Fench Industry, from tradition to modernity

Rebuilding

(Photographs of Paris in the 1950s, from TheVintageNews.com).

The Blitz in the UK is well documented and covered in movies and TV. During WWII, roughly 75,000 tonnes of bombs were dropped on the UK. France, in WWII, although only twice the size of the UK, took seven times that, from Allied bombs, roughly 518,000 tonnes. And that’s not counting the damage done by the occupying Nazi forces. Although, Paris itself was largely spared. The Liberation and the end of the war did not end the hardships of the Parisians. Rationing of bread continued until February 1948, and coffee, cooking oil, sugar and rice were rationed until May 1949. Housing in Paris was old and run-down.

The unprecedented economic expansion which France experienced from the aftermath of the Second World War until the oil crisis of 1973, is known as “Trente Glorieuses”, “Thirty Glorious Years”. This name is in reference to the “Trois glorieuses” or “Three Glorious” years of the 1830 revolution, comparing the economic turning point in the 20th century, to the political turning point just over a century earlier.

Today, France is ranked as the world’s seventh-largest economic power. France is the largest agricultural power in the European Union, accounting for almost one-fourth of the EU’s total agricultural production. Wheat, corn, meats and wine are France’s main agricultural products. In 1970, there were more than 1.5 million farms in France (four times the number in 2026. France dominates the global wine industry as the largest producer—accounting for roughly 20% of world output at around 48 million hectoliters annually (one hectoliter is 100 litres. That works out to 1,268 million US gallons.

France has a large manufacturing industry, with aerospace, automotive and luxury goods, alongside chemicals and pharmaceuticals. By 1970, France had become an industrial power, with 45 per cent of its GNP originating in the secondary sector. Economies are typically grouped into three main sectors The primary sector focuses on the extraction and harvesting of natural resources, encompassing industries such as agriculture, mining, and fishing. The secondary sector involves manufacturing and industrial processes, linking raw materials from the primary sector to finished products. The tertiary sector encompasses service-oriented industries, including finance, healthcare, and education, which have become dominant in advanced economies.

Old vs New Francs

Porter Press has an atmospheric article about life in France in the 1970s. One paragraph particularly stood out to me:

“Paper money was old franc notes – large, like hand towels, and the smaller nouveau franc. When buying anything you had to carefully distinguish between new and old because the newer francs were worth 100 times more. Both currencies were around for a long time, and nobody really seemed to care.”

(A Citroen DS, Renault Estafette van and other vehicles in front of the Hôtel de Crillon, a historic luxury hotel. Photo from PorterPress).

Up until 1959, France used the Franc (Subsequently called the “Old Franc”). 1 Franc was worth 100 Centimes. Banknotes started at 20 Francs (which would be worth 20 New Centimes after 1960) which were 130 x 80mm, up to 10,000 Francs (which would be worth 100 New Francs) at 172 × 92 mm.

In 1958, France embarked on a major restructuring plan, and from 1 January 1960, the “New Franc” entered circulation. You can find the early New Franc coins and notes on Numista. New Franc notes started at 5 new Francs (equivalent to 500 old francs) which was 140 × 75 mm, up to 500 new Francs (50,000 old francs), at 182 × 97 mm.

My first thought is that the sizes seem similar, if anything, the new notes are slightly larger. Though if we are looking in the 1970s and take notes of equivalent value at that time:

5 New Frans: 140 x 75mm, was worth the same as
500 Old Frans: 141 x 92mm

10 New Francs started at 150 x 80mm (but dropped to 145 × 80 mm from 1963)
1,000 Old Francs 172 × 95 mm (pre 1950, it dropped to 150 x 80 mm after that)

100 New Francs was 172 x 92 mm, dropping to 160 x 85mm in 1978
10,000 Old Francs 221 × 120 mm up until 1956, dropping to 172 x 92 mm for the last few years

So, it looks like the old currency did get physically smaller just before the changeover, though if people were happy using old notes well into the 1970s, they were probably happy still using the even older notes which would have been a noticeable size difference.

With coins, France did issue some 10 – 50 (old) centimes coins into the 1940s, though none after WWII.

At the 1960 changeover, 1 Franc was the smallest French coin. It was 23mm diameter, and 1.3g of aluminium. In 1962, a 1 (new) Centime coin was issued (equal in value to the old 1 franc), which was stainless steel, 15mm and 1.65g.

The 5 Franc coin issued up until 1952 was 31mm diameter and 3.5 grams of Aluminium. None were issued from 1952 – 1960. Compared to the new 5 Centimes coin issued from 1960, which dropped to 19mm, but only slightly lighter at 3.4g, now made of Stainless Steel. From 1966 this changed to Aluminium-Bronze and was 17mm and 2g.

The largest old franc coin was the 100 Francs, made of copper-nickel, it was 24mm diameter and weighed 6g. This was exactly the same dimensions as the new 1 Franc coin, which was now made purely out of Nickel.

10 Francs

Since today’s coin is a 10 Francs, lets have a look at that denomination. Since 1850, France has issued 25 different regular circulation pieces at that value, 14 of them coins. The first six (up to 1914) were gold. The 1929 – 1939 issue was silver (.680 purity). There were three more base metal issues in the “Old Franc”. When the New Franc came out, a 10 Franc coin was not initially issued. The 1965 – 1973 was a large, 37mm diameter, 2.7mm thick, 25 gram silver (.900) coin, featuring Hercules. This was a nod to several different 5 Francs coins issued from 1795 to 1889 featuring the same design. From 1974 to 1980 this design was transferred to an even larger 50 Francs coin (still .900 silver, 41mm and 30 grams).

From 1974 – 1987, the 10 Francs coin was aluminium-nickel-bronze. The design used was the industrial design on today’s coin, although in 1986, a new Nickel coin was issued, featuring a cockerel, although it was quickly withdrawn due to fears it was too similar to the 1/2 Franc and the two coins may be confused, particularly by vision impaired people. From 1988 to the end of the Franc in 2001, a bimetallic coin was issued.

Obverse

The obverse contains a map of metropolitan France with flashes pointing to Paris, and stylized initials RF on top with lettering around outside, date below with privy mark

Numista goes on to explain: The coin represents change of France from tradition to modernity, showing a modern country of energy and technology.

Reverse

Numista simply says of the reverse: “Value on band across centre, and industry in background”.

The design is stylized, however various elements can be picked out (I confess I asked Google, who provided the following, though without providing references):

• Construction & Manufacturing: Industrial construction cranes and factory buildings occupy the upper-left background.
• Energy & Power Grid: High-voltage electric pylons (transmission towers) and power lines span the upper right.
• Modern Technology: Jagged, abstract lightning bolts and frequencies fill the bottom section, symbolizing electrical energy, communication, and technological progress.

Edge

The edge is smooth with inscription, separated by patterns. The inscription reads: “LIBERTE EGALITE FRATERNITE”, which translates to: “Liberty Equality Brotherhood”.

Numista notes that there are two varieties:

• Type A: obverse face up when reading the edge
• Type B: reverse face up when reading the edge

Mine is Type A – the obverse is facing up in the photograph.

NumismaticNews explains: “Lettered edges are added to coins either using a separate rolling process if the obverse and reverse have already been struck or with a segmented collar. When using the former method, coin edge lettering is applied separately, so the lettering may appear at random on either the obverse or the reverse. The latter impresses the lettering simultaneously along with the obverse and reverse designs.”

Looking at Numista, there seem to be more “Type A” than “Type B” for each year, but it doesn’t really affect the value of the coins. For instance, for this 1978 coin, Numista notes that 34% people have a Type A coin and 12% of people have a type B coin. That is 34% of people who have ANY of this series of 10 Franc coin, have a 1978 Type A. Many people have multiple coins so the numbers do not add up to 100%, but for many coins, such as this one, they do give a good indication of which years and types are more common. Based on that, I am fairly confident that these coins used a separate rolling process for the edge text. My guess would be, the way the coins went from one process to the next favoured them landing edge text up to the obverse at a rate of around 3:1. Should you collect both? Absolutely! But only if it interests you. If you collect one of each KM number coin, and have *A* 10 Franc, KM # 940 coin of any year and type, then you’re probably good. I quite like this design, and I’d be happy to have one of each year and type – though I must admit I haven’t chased them. The coins themselves are not expensive, ranging from a few cents, up to a few dollars for the nicer grades. A professionally slabbed Uncirculated coin from PCGS or NGC can go for more, as is the case for many coins.

What do you think of this coin? What is your favourite coin with an industry theme? Or your favourite with a map?