A contemporary counterfeit, not a mint error or restrike. These zinc-core fakes circulated during the Restoration period when silver 5-franc pieces were hoarded or exported in response to Gresham's Law dynamics following the Napoleonic wars — bad money driving out good. The base-metal construction would have been immediately obvious by weight and ring to any attentive recipient, yet examples show circulation wear, confirming they passed hands regardless.
A contemporary counterfeit, not a mint error or restrike. These zinc-core fakes circulated during the Restoration period when silver 5-franc pieces were hoarded or exported in response to Gresham's Law dynamics following the Napoleonic wars — bad money driving out good. The base-metal construction would have been immediately obvious by weight and ring to any attentive recipient, yet examples show circulation wear, confirming they passed hands regardless.