{"product_id":"french-1914-lindauer-5-centimes-coin-ring-size-7-5","title":"French 1914 Lindauer 5 Centimes Coin Ring, Size 7.5","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis unusual French coin ring incorporates a 1914-dated five-centime piece of the holed Lindauer pattern into a simple, hand-finished ring mount. The coin is positioned as the face of the ring, with its original central aperture left open as part of the composition. The resulting form resembles a military-era signet ring while retaining enough of both sides of the coin to permit a meaningful identification.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe ring is approximately a United States size 7.5. Its narrow, silver-colored band rises into divided shoulders that meet the coin at either side. The construction appears individually assembled rather than commercially die-struck as a complete piece of jewelry. Slight irregularities around the shoulders, variations in the band’s surface, and visible age at the junctions are consistent with small-workshop or personal fabrication. The coin face is set at a slight angle above the band, producing the high-profile appearance associated with many period souvenir, patriotic, and so-called trench-art rings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe metal should be described conservatively as nickel and unidentified white metal. The original 1914 Lindauer five-centime pattern was struck in nickel, but no silver hallmark or other precious-metal mark is visible on the ring band. The band may be nickel, nickel silver, silver-plated metal, or another pale alloy selected to complement the color of the coin. It should not be represented as sterling silver without further testing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe outward-facing side displays the large letters “R F,” an abbreviation for “République Française,” translated as “French Republic.” Above the central hole is the Phrygian or liberty cap, while oak foliage fills the surrounding field. The cap was one of the most recognizable symbols of republican France, derived from the ancient cap of liberty and adopted during the French Revolution as an emblem of citizenship and freedom from monarchical rule. The oak branches traditionally conveyed endurance, national strength, and civic stability.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe reverse remains visible from inside the ring. It bears the French national motto “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité,” translated as “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.” The denomination appears as “5 Cmes,” an abbreviated form of “5 centimes,” divided by the central aperture. The date “1914” is visible below the surrounding foliage. This combination of the large “R F” monogram, liberty cap, holed center, motto, denomination, and date corresponds to the large-module five-centime design associated with French engraver Edmond-Émile Lindauer. Cataloged examples measure approximately 19 millimeters and were produced in nickel as experimental or pre-series issues before the related holed five-centime coin entered regular circulation during the First World War. \u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLindauer’s perforated coinage became one of the most visually distinctive French monetary designs of the early twentieth century. The central hole was not merely decorative. Holed coins could be distinguished readily by touch, carried on strings, and manufactured in economical base metals at a time when European governments were reconsidering the use of copper, bronze, silver, and nickel. The design represented a deliberate departure from the larger bronze five-centime pieces of the preceding period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 1914 date is especially significant. France entered the First World War in August of that year, and the nation’s coinage soon reflected the pressures of mobilization, disrupted trade, material shortages, inflation, and the need to reserve strategically useful metals. The Lindauer five-centime design was developed at the threshold of that upheaval. The familiar circulation series appeared later, beginning in 1917, with similar “R F,” wreath, motto, and central-hole elements. \u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePublished numismatic references distinguish several 1914 versions, including examples marked “ESSAI,” meaning “trial,” and an exceedingly scarce pre-series variety without that word. The reverse of this ring does not show a clearly readable “ESSAI,” although portions of the relevant field are obscured by the mounting angle, wear, patina, and the central aperture. It may therefore resemble the no-ESSAI pre-series type, but that attribution must remain qualified.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis distinction is important because unaltered and professionally authenticated 1914 Lindauer trial and pre-series coins can be valuable numismatic pieces. Reproductions and deceptive examples are also known, and the coin incorporated into this ring has been permanently altered through mounting and prolonged wear. It should consequently be offered as a 1914 Lindauer-type coin ring rather than as a certified rare pattern coin. Definitive determination of the precise variety and authenticity of the coin would require an in-hand examination by a specialist in French Third Republic coinage. \u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe ring’s form and date make it highly evocative of First World War trench art. “Trench art” is a broad collector term that includes objects made by soldiers, prisoners of war, convalescents, civilian artisans, and commercial souvenir workshops both during and immediately after a conflict. Such objects were not necessarily produced in a front-line trench. Rings were particularly popular because they required relatively little material, could be carried easily, and might serve as personal keepsakes, patriotic jewelry, souvenirs of service, or gifts for family members and sweethearts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCoins were natural source material for such work. They were readily available, carried national symbols, and could be adapted without the need to create an entirely new decorative face. The 1914 date would have possessed immediate emotional meaning during and after the war, marking the beginning of a conflict that transformed French society. The survival of the complete republican motto and “R F” monogram would have reinforced the ring’s patriotic character.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is no inscription naming an individual soldier, regiment, battlefield, or recipient. No accompanying documentation establishes when or where the coin was mounted. The ring therefore cannot be conclusively described as soldier-made or battlefield-produced. Nevertheless, its hand-finished construction, age, French patriotic imagery, and 1914-dated coin are entirely consistent with the broader tradition of wartime and early postwar souvenir jewelry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe coin face displays honest circulation and handling wear, including softened high points, light scratches, darkened recesses, small oxidation spots, and muted relief. The “R F” initials, liberty cap, foliage, national motto, denomination, and most of the date remain recognizable. The central aperture shows slight irregularity and accumulated dark patina around its interior edge. This may reflect original manufacture followed by wear, later working during assembly, or both.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe ring band exhibits age-related tarnish, scattered discoloration, surface abrasions, and minor irregularities from hand shaping. The shoulders remain attached to the coin face, and no major structural separation is visible in the photographs. There are no stones, enamel elements, or additional applied devices. The overall condition is good for an individually constructed ring of this age, with the wear contributing to rather than diminishing its historical character.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is an appealing crossover piece for collectors of French First World War artifacts, trench art, patriotic jewelry, coin jewelry, Third Republic material, and early Lindauer coinage. Its principal value rests in the combination of a distinctive 1914 French coin design and an apparently period hand-fashioned ring mount. Because the underlying coin variety has not been professionally authenticated, the piece is priced as historically compelling wartime-era jewelry rather than as an intact high-value numismatic pattern.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Derrittmeister Militaria Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50330714702063,"sku":"17-129","price":67.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/9169\/5855\/files\/17-128_1_70433abb-e2e1-4fb1-bed4-6faf77212900.jpg?v=1785981032","url":"https:\/\/derrittmeister.com\/products\/french-1914-lindauer-5-centimes-coin-ring-size-7-5","provider":"Derrittmeister Militaria Group","version":"1.0","type":"link"}