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 Replies: 6 / Views: 4,317 |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2217 Posts |
I have a little collection of francs from the mid thirties through the war years until about 1943, and I am just trying to find out more information on them. These 1 and 2 francs pieces, are of the denser metal variety and are very nice. I am not interested in collecting the weaker (zinc, I think) metal ones which were probably produced due to a shortage of metals due to the war effort. Can anyone help me find out more information on these coins please? I know there are lots of web resources but I don't know where to look and it's better to ask real people more directly as in a forum. I cannot find enough information in my Blackbook Guide and I would like to know precisely what were the years of production for these coins in the solid variety and any other information that I might be able to glean. I have started filling up my Numis album with these coins, they are lovely...
-Matt
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Moderator
 United States
6563 Posts |
Hey There best web resource for me is https://www.(131231) Not Allowed - Auto-Removed it will have pictures of almost every coin you have and the years they were minted. Also if you could post pictures here we'd love to see them and we can give you much more detailed information. |
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Pillar of the Community
Germany
1238 Posts |
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Moderator
 Australia
16826 Posts |
Pre-WWII French 1 and 2 franc coins were made of aluminium-bronze, a gold-coloured alloy. I'm not sure of the exact composition used in the French coins, but The Australian $1 coin also described as being made of "aluminium-bronze", is 92% copper, 6% aluminium, 2% nickel.
The 5 franc coins were issued in two different metals: pure nickel for mainland France and aluminium-bronze for use in Algeria. The 10 franc and 20 franc coins were silver.
During and after WWII, both the Vichy State and Free French franc coins were made of pure aluminium, beginning in 1941. You are correct; this was done so valuable "war metals" wouldn't be "wasted" on coinage. A 2 franc coin in brass was struck by the Americans in 1944 for liberated zones under their control.
Zinc was only used on low denomination coins (the 10 and 20 centimes) during the war. An iron 20 centimes was also issued; these are understandably tough to find in high grades, as they rust easily.
In the Republic/Free French series, 1935 is the scarce date in both the 1 franc and 2 franc denominations; other dates are "scratchtray items" unless they're particularly well preserved. For the 5 franc, the 1939, 1936 and 1937 nickel types are the three scarcest; the Al-bronze ones are all fairly common. The 10 francs don't have a stand-out rarity, but the 1939 and 1936 20 francs are scarce.
The scarcest coin by far in the Vichy series is the cupronickel 5 francs struck by Vichy France in 1941 but never officially released.
I'm only going from the figures in the Krause catalogue. Collectors on the ground in Europe (like chrisild and Ageka) probably have a better picture of current trends.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
Germany
1238 Posts |
Well, my knowledge is mostly catalog based too, but as for values (or rather prices) the CGB/Numishop site may be helpful. Most of the pieces should be in the III REPUBLIC/Troisième Republique and ETAT FRANÇAIS/Vichy sections ... As for the Third Republic 1F coins, according to cgb.fr they are from "bronze-aluminium", no further info regarding the composition. The Schön also says "Al-Bro" and explains elsewhere that this is usually 90-95% Cu and 5-10% Al. (The Australian $1 coins are listed as Al-N-Bro in the Schön, which means "typically Cu92 Al6 Ni2" - so I guess that those 1F and 2F coins do not contain nickel.) There is also a zinc variety of the Third Republic 1 franc piece, made in Algeria (mintage 17,200) which Schön has a price of €1000 (ss/VF) to 1700 (vz/EF) for.  Christian |
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Pillar of the Community
Germany
1238 Posts |
quote:
An iron 20 centimes was also issued; these are understandably tough to find in high grades, as they rust easily.
That variety is (again according to the catalog) even more expensive than this "never actually released" 5F Petain coin. The 20 centimes (Fe) 1943 is listed as €190/275 (grades see previous reply), the 5F piece is €150/250 ... Side note: The Third Republic 1F and 2F aluminum coins were legal tender in France, worth 1 and 2 centimes respectively, until mid-February 2002. Well, at least in theory.  Christian |
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Pillar of the Community
 United Kingdom
2217 Posts |
Thanks for all the info I am going to delve into it soon.. particularly to find the beginning and ends of the 1 and 2 series' so I know what to look for
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Replies: 6 / Views: 4,317 |
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Posted 04/28/2007 3:33 pm
