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50 Centimes Monaco essai
| Issuer | Principauté de Monaco |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Pattern or trial banknote |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | PRINCIPAUTÉ DE MONACO 1920 50 ESSAI Albert Berthe, graveur Imprimerie V.ve A. Chêne, Monaco |
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
Monaco's 1920 emergency fractional issues were a direct response to the wartime hoarding and melting of small coinage that had left much of Western Europe without functional low-denomination currency. The Principauté printed its own series locally through Veuve A. Chêne — a Monégasque firm, not an imported security printer — which makes these among the very few emergency notes of the period produced entirely within the issuing territory.
Essai status means this specific example never entered circulation; it was a proof or trial strike submitted for approval. Berthe's engraving work is the technical highlight — unusually refined craftsmanship for what was ultimately a wartime stopgap at half a franc.