France 1950-B franc

from the Mountain Groan Collection

This specimen is a somewhat better date of a type struck at the Paris mint 1944-59 under the Fourth Republic (1946-59). This design was originally struck in aluminum bronze 1931-41 but the devastation wreaked by World War Two on France prevented the post-war regime from resuming issues in that metal. This type is known dated 1941 but those specimens were minted and issued in 1944, after the Liberation. The new franc which replaced it in 1960 with the inauguration of the Fifth Republic was worth one hundred of these francs.

Recorded mintage: 18,800,000.

Specification: 1.3 g, aluminum, 23 mm diameter, after a design by Pierre Alexandre Morlon (1878-1951).

Catalog reference: F.221/18, KM 885a.1.

Source:

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

Link to:

• 1949-B franc
• 1950 2 francs
• 1950 5 francs
• 1950 10 francs
• 1950-B 10 francs
• 1950 20 francs "GEORGES GUIRAUD"
• 1950-B 20 francs "GEORGES GUIRAUD"
• 1950-B 20 francs "G. GUIRAUD"
• 1957 franc
• Coins and currency dated 1950