10 Francs - Ubangi-Shari

Ubangi-Shari's 10 Francs coins were struck from aluminum, a practical choice in the late 1940s to stretch scarce resources after the war.

That metal kept production costs down in a colony still reeling from global upheaval. The design was straightforward: a simple profile of Marianne on one side, with the denomination and territory name on the other. No fancy flourishes—just what was needed for daily transactions in a remote part of French Equatorial Africa.

Mintage figures are murky; records from that era often vanished with colonial archives. Still, these coins circulated widely, from Bangui's markets to rural outposts, until independence loomed.

Some say they symbolized French control. I say, they were just money that got the job done.