"Sedan" c/m French 50 centimes

canadiancoinguy

I have a French 1864 (A) 50 centimes grading AG, and holed with a "SEDAN" countermark across the obverse. Does anyone know what it's purpose is? I'm guessing maybe in WWI they were marking coins to try to keep them in that city perhaps?

farthing

To differentiate them from the French coins that were "convertible"?

Blackhawk

The coins with the top half cut off were CONVERTIBLES

tbirde56

During the Franco-Prussian War, on September 2, 1870 the French emperor Napoleon III was taken prisoner with 100,000 of his soldiers at Sedan. Maybe a souvenir of the siege/battle?

canadiancoinguy

<< <i>The coins with the top half cut off were CONVERTIBLES >>




Did some searches, and found outat exonumia.com that:

"These c/m satirize of the defeat of the French army by the Prussians at Sedan, a small town near the border with Belgium. It was the crucial battle in the 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War, and became a rallying cry for the French anti-monarchists. Emperor Napeoleon III gave the order to hoist a white flag at Sedan, formally surrendered to the Prussians the next day, and was sent into exile in Germany. The battle was commemorated by many countermarks, engraved coins and satirical tokens that copied French 10 centimes."

So Tbirde's right!

satootoko

<< <i>So Tbirde's right! >>

What a shocking surprise