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50 Centimes - Saint Menehould 51
| Issuer | Union Commerciale de Sainte-Menehould |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Centimes (0.50) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Octagonal flan with a beaded border running along all eight sides. Within the field, the monogram 'U.C.M' is prominently displayed in bold raised letters, representing the Union Commerciale de Sainte-Menehould. Below the monogram, a small lozenge-shaped ornament separates it from the curved legend 'STE MENEHOULD' inscribed along the lower portion of the field. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
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| Mintage | ND |
| Additional information |
Sainte-Menehould is a small town in the Marne department best known, historically, as the place where Louis XVI was recognized during the Flight to Varennes in June 1791 — recognized by a postmaster who had memorized the king's face from his portrait on an assignat. The commercial union token issued here belongs to a different crisis entirely: the acute small-change shortage that gripped provincial France during and immediately after the First World War, when hoarding stripped circulation of all hard currency below the franc level.
Nickel-plated zinc was a wartime compromise material, adopted when nickel alone became a strategic reserve.