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Replies: 7 / Views: 139 |
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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
18808 Posts |
Over the past few decades I have collected a complete date set of the silver French 50-centime coins issued from 1898 to 1920. Most of the earlier dates are in VG to VF condition and the later dates from XF to AU, not counting a couple of UNC ones I bought. Apart from the UNC coins, almost all of them were from junk bins in France and England, mostly costing just the bullion value or less. This coin really stands out on my album page:  I cannot understand how it got so worn. Apart from a few scratches on the reverse, which look fairly new (maybe from contact with other coins in the junk bin), the wear looks even and old. These coins were demonetised in 1928, but had effectively disappeared from circulation by 1921, when they were replaced by the Chamber of Commerce 'Bon Pour' coins. And from my perusal of French books and coin magazines, plus talking to elderly French people when in my teens, I got the impression that they more or less vanished during World War I, so a coin minted in 1905 might only have circulated for 10-12 years. I quite often find holed and otherwise mutilated examples of these coins, usually in British junk trays - probably brought back by WW1 soldiers as souvenirs or love tokens or simply to show how they passed a few boring days in the trenches - but I've never seen another as worn as this!
Edited by NumisRob Today 12H 55M ago
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Bedrock of the Community
Canada
21900 Posts |
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Moderator
 United States
195742 Posts |
Nice lowball!  I agree, a possible pocket piece.
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
27514 Posts |
Nice slick, NumisRob! Thank you for the anecdotal information about these coins.
Inordinately fascinated by bits of metal with strange markings and figures
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
9821 Posts |
Good info Rob and yes a possible pocket piece.
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Bedrock of the Community
 United Kingdom
18808 Posts |
I think you've nailed it with pocket piece. I never thought of that, as I always imagine pocket pieces to be large coins, usually crown or silver dollar size!
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Moderator
 United States
195742 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
79187 Posts |
Nice lowball! 
Errers and Varietys.
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Replies: 7 / Views: 139 |
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