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50 Francs Essai
| Issuer | Monnaie de Paris |
|---|---|
| Year | 1972 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Raymond Joly |
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| Obverse description | Left-facing effigy of Marianne wearing a crested Phrygian cap with flowing hair rendered in fine relief, after the design by engraver Raymond Joly whose signature 'R.JOLY' appears to the right of the bust. The circular legend 'RÉPVBLIQVE FRANÇAISE' runs along the upper periphery. Below the bust, the inscription 'I·E·O·M' (Institut d'Émission d'Outre-Mer) is centered in the lower field, flanked by the word 'ESSAI' to the left, with the date '1972' prominently displayed in the exergue. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central motif depicting a stylized bisj pole, a traditional Melanesian ritual totem carved from a single tree trunk featuring stacked anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures. The denomination '50f' appears to the right of the pole in the field. The circular legend 'NOUVELLES HÉBRIDES' runs along the upper periphery, identifying the issuing territory. |
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| Additional information |
Essais produced by the Monnaie de Paris in this period were official trial strikes made for ministerial and technical approval, not for circulation — they exist because French law required formal submission pieces before any design could be authorized for public issue. The 1972 fifty-franc nickel essai never progressed to a circulating type, leaving these pieces as the only struck record of a denomination that was proposed but ultimately abandoned at this weight and composition.