10 Centimes - Groupement de Commerçants - Poissy [78]

French merchant association tokens like this one filled a genuine gap during the coin shortages of World War II, when the Vichy government's metal requisitions and supply disruptions left local commerce starved of small change. The Groupement de Commerçants de Poissy — a retailer consortium in this Seine-et-Oise industrial town — issued zinc tokens as a local workaround, redeemable within the participating merchant network. Zinc was itself a compromised material by this point, heavily allocated to German war industry, which makes its appearance here in civilian commerce worth noting.