Monneron of 5 sols (Hercules)
1792 ・ copper ・ 18th century ・ The Monneron brothers / Boulton's Soho Mint
obverse
reverse
France under the Revolution was critically short of the small change of daily life. From the end of 1791 the Monneron brothers ordered copper tokens from Matthew Boulton's Soho Mint in Birmingham, England, and filled the gap. The face carries Hercules. The Soho Mint was driven by Watt's steam engine, which means France's small change was being struck by steam machinery in a factory of England, soon to be the enemy. A ban in May 1792 made them illegal, but people chose the coin they could use, and they went on circulating until the end of 1793.