(sold for $46.0)

1950, Algeria (French Occupation). Scarce Pattern 100 Francs (ESSAI) Coin. AU++

Mint Year: 1950
Mintage: 1,500 pcs.
Denomination: Pattern 100 Francs (ESSAI)
Reference: KM-E3 (ESSAI of the realized KM-93!).
Condition: Minor deposits in reverse, otherwise a nice AU++UNC!
Material: Copper-Nickel
Weight: 11.95gm
Diameter: 30mm

Obverse: Laureate female head right, wearing phrygian cap of the Revolution.
Legend: REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE / P. TURIN

Reverse: Denomination numeral (100) above denomination (FRANCS) and date (1950), which is flanked by privy marks and wheat-sprays. Inscription and ESSAI marking below.
Legend: 100 / FRANCS / (privy mark) 1950 (privy mark) / ALGERIE / ESSAI

Authenticity unconditionally guaraneed.

Under the pretext of a slight to their consul, the French invaded and captured Algiers in 1830. Algerine slave trade and piracy ceased when the French conquered Algiers. The conquest of Algeria by the French took some time and resulted in considerable bloodshed. A combination of violence and disease epidemics caused the indigenous Algerian population to decline by nearly one-third from 1830 to 1872. The population of Algeria, which stood at about 1.5 million in 1830, reached nearly 11 million in 1960. French policy was predicated on "civilizing" the country. Algeria's social fabric suffered during the occupation: literacy plummeted. During this period, a small but influential French-speaking indigenous elite was formed, made up of Berbers mostly from Kabyles. As a consequence, French government favored the Kabyles. About 80% of Indigenous Schools were constructed for Kabyles.

From 1848 until independence, France administered the whole Mediterranean region of Algeria as an integral part and département of the nation. One of France's longest-held overseas territories, Algeria became a destination for hundreds of thousands of European immigrants, who became known as colons and later, as Pied-Noirs. Between 1825 and 1847, 50,000 French people immigrated to Algeria. These settlers benefited from the French government's confiscation of communal land from tribal peoples, and the application of modern agricultural techniques that increased the amount of arable land. Many Europeans settled in Oran and Algiers, and by the early 20th century they formed a majority of the population in both cities.

Gradually, dissatisfaction among the Muslim population, which lacked political and economic status in the colonial system, gave rise to demands for greater political autonomy, and eventually independence from France. Tensions between the two population groups came to a head in 1954, when the first violent events of what was later called the Algerian War began. Historians have estimated that between 30,000 and 150,000 Harkis and their dependents were killed by the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) or by lynch mobs in Algeria. The FLN used hit and run attacks in Algeria and France as part of its war, and the French conducted severe reprisals. The war led to the death of hundreds of thousands of Algerians and hundreds of thousands of injuries. The war concluded in 1962, when Algeria gained complete independence following the March 1962 Evian agreements and the July 1962 self-determination referendum.

The number of European Pied-Noirs who fled Algeria totaled more than 900,000 between 1962 and 1964. The exodus to mainland France accelerated after the Oran massacre of 1962, in which hundreds of militants entered European sections of the city, and began attacking civilians.

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