Obverse. Photo © NumisCorner.com
  • 5 Centimes 1917-1920, KM# 865a, France
  • 5 Centimes 1917-1920, KM# 865a, France
Description

The French Third Republic was the system of government adopted in France from 1870 when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War until 1940 when France's defeat by Nazi Germany in World War II led to the formation of the Vichy government in France.

Engraver: Edmond-Emile Lindauer

Obverse

Central hole divides letter R and F (Republique Française) below Phrygian cap with a decorated circle inside an oak wreath of 2 branches. Engraver's name below.

The Phrygian cap is a soft conical cap with the top pulled forward, associated in antiquity with several peoples in Eastern Europe and Anatolia, including Phrygia, Dacia, and the Balkans. In early modern Europe it came to signify freedom and the pursuit of liberty through a confusion with the pileus, the felt cap of manumitted (emancipated) slaves of ancient Rome. Accordingly, the Phrygian cap sometimes is called a liberty cap.

R F
EM.LINDAUER

Reverse

Denomination divided by an olive plant and center hole, date below. The national motto of France (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity) above.

Mintmark of the Paris Mint (Cornucopia) on the left and a privy mark of Chief Engraver (torch, Henri Auguste Patey, 1896-1930) on the right middle.

LIBERTÉ·ÉGALITÉ
FRATERNITÉ
5 CMES
1918

Edge

5 Centimes

3rd Republic
KM# 865a Schön# 193 Gadoury# 169
Characteristics
Material Cupronickel
Weight 3 g
Diameter 19 mm
Thickness 1.55 mm
Shape round with a center hole
Alignment Coin
Mint
Paris Mint (A)

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