Sunday Special - France 10 Francs

France

10 Francs

1940

Pick #84

G

Value: $0.25 

Here's another Sunday Special! This one is from France.  France is one of those places that everyone wants to visit at least once in their lifetime.  I've had the pleasure of living there for some time and traveled everywhere except for.... Paris. Don't get me wrong or anything but I avoided Paris for one reason, I wanted to save it for another time.  Paris is immense and there are so many museums and art galleries to visit that to go to Paris, one or two days just doesn't do it justice.  Now, in furtherance of my reason not to go, I took a class on the art, architecture and the metropolis itself when I was in university.  The knowledge that I gained from class prompted me to think that I should go to Paris as just a one week trip so I could enjoy the grand boulevards, cafes, art and people that make Paris the city it is today.  Now, in terms of my travels through France, I lived in Lyon, in a little suburb called Tassin-la-Demi-Lune, been to Strasbourg, Colmar, Mulhouse, Dijon, Beaune, Annecy, Chamonix, Valence, Avignon, Frejus & St. Raphael, Cannes, Antibes, Nice, Menton & Other smaller French Riviera Cities.  Out of all of the cities that I visited, Lyon had the best food and people, Beaune had the best wine, Dijon the best mustard, Strasbourg the best sauerkraut, Chamonix the best mountain views, Annecy the prettiest city view, Frejus & St. Raphael the best beach town, Nice the best fun town, Cannes the best celebrity and yuppie area and finally Menton the best small town atmosphere.  I absolutely love France, among other countries around the world.  If I had to live in any country in Europe, it would be France.  Anyways, enough of my travel rant, here's some insight on this note!

This note, being that it is French, is quite beautiful.  Out of all of the notes produced by all the different countries during the early 1900's-.  The artwork is extravagant and extremely detailed.  Although the artwork is superb, the quality of their notes are sub-par.  The paper used is usually extremely thin and flimsy, but the trade-off is that the note is really a piece of art.  This note holds true to that generalization.  The paper is flimsy but the artwork is really nice!  You find this quality of every French note produced worldwide and in all of their former colonies.  Indochina, for instance, used the same paper for the majority of their notes and the artwork was very beautiful. Not much to say about this note other than the fact that the front of the note depicts Minerva and the reverse has a sitting woman.  Still a very pretty note! 

Sunday Special - Russia

A week ago, I had promised one of my viewers a post on Russian coins.  So as promised, but a few days late, here it is! These were the only Russian coins that I pulled from the dealer bin 2 months ago, but the only reason that I pulled them out was because of their weird denominations.  The three coins are denominated in 3 Kopeks and 15 Kopeks.  That's a pretty odd denomination.  In the numismatic world, it's pretty rare to find something denominated in 3's and 15's unless you're talking about pre-decimal coins from the U.K. and it's former and current colonies.  Granted it's more unusual that you find these denominations in decimal denominated currencies. 

The obverse is typical of coins from the Soviet era, the coat of arms flanked by sprigs with the reverse having the value flanked by sprigs.  Really its a matter of function over form here, a simpler design is easier to mass produce as opposed to a more intricate design.  You find designs like these in other current and former communist countries; it's cheaper and serves its purpose. So here are the stats:

Russia (Former USSR) - 15 Kopeks
Date: 1978
Mint: N/A
Y#131
Weight: 2.5g
Content: Copper-Nickel-Zinc
Catalog Value: $0.20-0.40 (F-VF)

Russia (Former USSR) - 3 Kopeks
Date:1985 & 1982
Mint: N/A
Y#:128a
Weight: 3.0g
Content: Aluminum-Bronze
Catalog Value: $0.15-0.25 (F-VF)