2 Francs Pattern

In 1948, the Fourth Republic's monetary reorganization prompted the Monnaie de Paris to trial several competing designs and alloy combinations before settling on final production types. This copper-nickel essai was part of that evaluation process and was never approved for circulation — the 2 Francs denomination itself had a troubled postwar existence, with rampant inflation rapidly eroding its purchasing power to near irrelevance within just a few years of issue.

Pattern pieces from this series were typically distributed to officials, collectors, and foreign mints in small quantities, making precise surviving populations difficult to establish.