Owner Comments:
FRANC 1925:
Post World War I France was awash in debt, which led to a severely devalued French Franc. Thus 1920 was the final year of the silver franc and the beginning of aluminum-bronze coinage. Curiously, those first aluminum-bronze francs were not national issues but token equivalents minted by the Chamber of Commerce from 1920 to 1929. Since the Chamber of Commerce is this token/coin’s minting authority it is only natural that it should feature Mercury, the Roman god of commerce as its central obverse device.
In the strictest sense of the definition, this token/coin is neither a token nor a coin. For example, privately issued tokens do not typically have a numerical value assigned to them because a governmental entity does not regulate their weight and fineness. Coins on the other hand all have numerical values since the issuing government monetizes them with a guarantee of their weight and fineness. Moreover coins are accepted everywhere in commerce whereas privately issued tokens only have a limited acceptance. Therefore, for the sake of argument, since this privately issued piece is more like a coin than a token I will refer to this token/coin as a coin.
Hence, what I believe makes this coin different is that the Chamber of Commerce under the direction of the French government mass-produced them for widespread use in France. Even so, the reverse legend reads much like that of a token. For example, the term “Good for 1 Franc” reads as an equivalent numerical value rather than the absolute value of “1 Franc” found on coins pre-dating 1921. Regardless of whether you consider this piece a token or a coin, you cannot deny that it circulated in commerce as if it were a coin.
Mercury is the Roman god of commerce, financial gain, messages, eloquence, travelers, boundaries, luck, trickery and thieves. He is also said to have fabricating a lyre from a tortoise shell, which is probably why he is portrayed leaning against a lyre on this coins’s obverse. In Mercury’s right hand is a caduceus. The winged, two-snaked caduceus represents commerce, negotiation, and printing. Mercury’s winged head allowed him to deliver his messages swiftly.
Mercury is also associated with abundance and commercial success, which makes the seated imagery of this coin particularly powerful, especially considering the devaluing of France’s currency in 1920. Mercury by sitting on a cargo container, and with a number of goods at his feet, is expressing his authority over economic prosperity. Thus, the imagery of this coin was an attempt to communicate a reassuring message to the public during the tough economic times of the 1920’s.