reverse
On our way back from our day out to Lydney we popped into Taurus Crafts, an arts and crafts visitor centre. I got chatting to the very nice man who runs "The Little Bazaar", an antiques and collectables shop, and he kindly gave me these two old French coins.
The coin to the left is a cupronickel French pre-Second World War 25 centime coin from 1924, the coin to the right is an aluminium French Second World War one franc coin from 1943.
During the Nazi occupation of France (1940-44), the franc was a satellite currency of the German Reichsmark. The exchange rate was 20 francs = 1 RM. The coins were changed, with the words 'Travaille ,Famille, Patrie' (Work, Family, Fatherland) replacing the Republican triad 'Liberté, Egalité, Fraternitié' (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity) and the emblem of the Vichy regime added.
This is a little piece of modern history that I was totally unaware of!
reverse
On our way back from our day out to Lydney we popped into Taurus Crafts, an arts and crafts visitor centre. I got chatting to the very nice man who runs "The Little Bazaar", an antiques and collectables shop, and he kindly gave me these two old French coins.
The coin to the left is a cupronickel French pre-Second World War 25 centime coin from 1924, the coin to the right is an aluminium French Second World War one franc coin from 1943.
During the Nazi occupation of France (1940-44), the franc was a satellite currency of the German Reichsmark. The exchange rate was 20 francs = 1 RM. The coins were changed, with the words 'Travaille ,Famille, Patrie' (Work, Family, Fatherland) replacing the Republican triad 'Liberté, Egalité, Fraternitié' (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity) and the emblem of the Vichy regime added.
This is a little piece of modern history that I was totally unaware of!