France 1944-B 2 francs

from the Mountain Groan Collection

This specimen is a better date of a type struck for the puppet regime of Vichy France 1943-44 (no two francs are known dated 1942). Altho Paris was occupied by the Nazis, the mint there remained open. To keep up with inflation, the regime opened temporary mints at Beaumont-le-Roger (mintmark "B", shown here) and Castelsarrasin (mintmark "C"). The type is very common but scarce choice. It was not officially demonetized until 2005, after the coming of euro.

Recorded mintage: 10,297,863.

Specification: 2.2 g, aluminum, 27 mm diameter, designed by Lucien Bazor (1889-1974).

Catalog reference: F.270/5, KM 904.2.

Source:

• Gadoury, Victor, Monnaies Françaises, 1789-2019, 24me éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 2019.
• Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
• Prieur, Michel, and Laurent Schmitt, Le Franc 10: Les Monnaies, Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 2014.

Link to:

• 1943 2 francs, aluminum, Vichy
• 1944 10 centimes
• 1944 20 centimes, zinc
• 1944 20 centimes, Iron
• 1944 50 centimes, Morlon head
• 1944-B 50 centimes, Vichy
• 1944 franc, Morlon head
• 1944-C franc, Vichy
• 1944 2 francs, aluminum, Morlon head
• 1944 2 francs, aluminum bronze, minted in the USA
• 1945-C 2 francs, aluminum, Morlon head
• Coins and currency dated 1944