Once, again, I got to pondering about coins. Were there any coins minted by a nation that no longer exists of where a complete type collection can be had that numbers 10 or less. I searched through Krause's Catalog of World Coins and discovered the French overseas territory of Oceania (a.k.a. French Oceania). Later named French Polynesia. Exactly where is French Oceania (Polynesia) on the map (Wikipedia photo)? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:French_Polynesia_on_the_globe_(Polynesia_centered).svg French Oceania (Polynesia) was a constituent country of the French Republic. It comprised 130 basalt and coral islands scattered among five archipelagoes, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory (Papeete). The Krause catalog denotes and features 4 coins. All were struck by the Paris Mint. Three of them are dated 1949 and one bears the date 1952. 1. 1949 50 Centimes (100 Centimes = 1 Franc) 2. 1949 Franc 3. 1949 2 Francs 4. 1952 5 Francs All four are made of aluminum and feature a seated Liberty, a torch in her right hand and a cornucopia with date below. Their reverse designs feature a legend overlaying an island scene which divides rhe denomination. Images courtesy of World Coin Gallery: 1949 50 Centimes: http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coine.php?image=img10/144-o1&desc=FrenchOceaniakm150Centimes(1949)&query=Oceaniakm1 1949 Franc: http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coine.php?image=img1/144-o2&desc=FrenchOceaniakm21Franc(1949)&query=Oceaniakm2 1949 Two Francs: http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coine.php?image=img1/144-o3&desc=FrenchOceaniakm32Francs(1949)&query=Oceaniakm3 1952 Five Francs: http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coine.php?image=img1/144-o4&desc=FrenchOceaniakm45Francs(1952)&query=Oceaniakm4 Four coins to make a complete type set of French Polynesia coinage. Wrong! There were three other coins needed to have the entire type set making a total of seven coins. You see, France minted three Essai coins in 1948 for French Polynesia. Here they are: 1948 50 Centimes: http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coine_vs.php?image=nmc4/144-E1&desc=FrenchOceaniakmE150Centimes(1948)&query=OceaniakmE1 1948 Franc: http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coine_vs.php?image=nmc4/144-E3&desc=FrenchOceaniakmE31Franc(1948)&query=OceaniakmE3 1948 Two Francs: http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coine_vs.php?image=nmc4/144-E5&desc=FrenchOceaniakmE52Francs(1948)&query=OceaniakmE5 That's all that's needed to have a complete type set, but what about a complete set? More pondering. What am I pondering? It comes down to those three Essai coins. You see there were two varieties of each 1948 Essai coin. The Paris Mint struck 1,100 of each variety. 1. 50 Centimes (incuse design) 2. 50 Centimes (raised design) 3. Franc (incused design) 4. Franc (raised design) 5. Two Francs (incused design) Copper-Nickel 6. Two Farancs (raised design) Copper-Nickel That's right, it takes 13 coins for a complete set. Wrong! Looking at the List of Essais produced, I noticed four more coins. Three are dated 1949 (2000 50 Centavos, One Franc and 2 Francs coins of each denomination were struck in Copper-Nickel). Alumimum 1952 Five Francs reached a mintage of 1,200. Now we've uncovered them all! Wrong again! The Paris Mint saw fit to produce 104 Pieforts (double thick) Essais of each denomination. Three dated 1949 include the 50 centimes, One Franc and the Two Francs. The fourth Piefort Essai is a 1952 Five Francs piece. A complete set including the 1948 Essais, the '49 business strikes, the '49 Essais and '49 Piefort Essais equals 21 coins. Did you know? Clinker
Interesting variety, Clinker! I am always curious when it comes to designs that "did not make it", be they essais or just drawings/plaster models. And sometimes, as in this case, I wonder why they did not pick one of these designs for the centimes denominations and one for the franc/s pieces ... As for the number of different pieces, I guess that people who aim at having a complete collection will be glad about the fact that modern France has only one mintmark, not several. Christian
There was a short-lived country called Katanga that was part of the Belgian Congo and seceded from the Republic of the Congo on July 11, 1960, 11 days after the Congo gained independence. Issues included a gold 5 francs, and bronze 1 franc and 5 franc coins. The short-lived Republic of Biafra (1967-70), which had seceded from Nigeria, issued a total of 12 different coins during its brief existence.
Hi Collector 1996... Thanks for reading, commenting and telling me about Katanga and Biafra... Clinker
