Cross of Lorraine

Started by brandm24, February 21, 2023, 04:28:16 PM

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brandm24

I recently came across this interesting conflict counterstamp dating back to World War II. There's a small Cross of Lorraine image struck on a 1924 2-Franc French coin.

The symbol was often used during the war as a show of resistance to the Nazi occupation of not only France, but the rest of Europe as well. Free French forces many times had the cross displayed on military equipment and uniforms. Interestingly, it also appeared on American, British and other allied country's war machines.

Apparently, examples of coins such as this are very rare. In all the years I've been collecting and researching counterstamps I've only seen one other. That one is in the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge. I believe it was acquired by them from the Gavin Scott collection of conflict coins several years ago.

BruceLiberation 1.jpgLiberation 3.jpgLiberation 2.jpg   
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Figleaf

@brandm24: On your picture, the coin is upright, but the counterstamp is upside down (the short bar should be on top). I presume this counterstamp also surfaced in the US?

Speculation that fits what little we know: the shoulder insignia of the US 79th infantry division.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

brandm24

Yes, the piece was offered at auction by an American seller. Interesting that you found it somewhat matches the insignia of the 79th Infantry so it may have been brought home by a soldier.
Thanks for the info, Peter.

Bruce
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brandm24

Here's a picture of the second example I spoke of...a 1943 2-Francs coin.

BruceLiberation 4.jpg
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Figleaf

Great! That is a completely different counterstamp, likely done by the resistance.

The francisque, a throwing ax, is a traditional weapon of the Salien Francs. The Vichy government combined a double-edged variety (a nod to the fasces of fascism) with the marshal's bâton of Philippe Pétain†, its leader, and the motto TRAVAIL FAMILLE PATRIE, obviously a conservative* alternative to LIBERTE EGALITE FRATERNITE. This emblem of Vichy is the main element of the coin.

The Lorraine cross was the symbol of the movement led outside France by De Gaulle. It was meant to be an answer to the nazi swastika symbol: christian, rather than "heathen", Frankish, rather than Germanic and obliquely referring to the Lorraine region, a bone of contention between France and Germany since Carolingian times. As such, it became the antipode of the francisque.

The Lorraine crosses are stamped on the two blades. The message is obvious: no to Pétain, yes to De Gaulle, no to Allied attempts to isolate De Gaulle and yes to De Gaulle's attempts to be a full-fledged ally, rather than a "friendly" rebel to the regime of an occupied country. People with a link to the resistance within France almost universally agreed to this message, so that they came to use the Lorraine cross as their symbol also.

The message would have been clear to any Frenchman, but not to a very large majority of non-French allied soldiers. Note that the Lorraine cross is usually not placed in a frame. If there is a frame, it can take many shapes, but it is extremely rare to see it on a shield.

The stamp on the OP coin is completely different. The Lorraine cross is placed in a shield, in a blanc spot of the design. This is a symbol by itself. The coin being upside down in relation to the counterstamp is another sign that the counterstamper wasn't interested in the design of the host. The host coin is not significant°. It probably just happened to be around.

Peter

† The emblem was originally a personal symbol of Pétain, but developed into a symbol of his government.
* Vichy was based on the traditional mixture of fascists, other extreme rightists, royalists and nationalists that occupied the principal part of the conservative movement in the post-Napoléonic era. It was always strong in the army (remember the Dreyfuss affair).
° I did note that the metal with this amount of patina tends towards the colour of an infantry uniform, but that may be a coincidence.
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

brandm24

A lot of interesting information there, Peter. I always feel as though I've been taken to school in many of your informative posts. :)

I double checked the auction listing and found that the seller was from Prague, Czech Republic, not the US as I originally thought. Does this change your view on the coin in any way?

Bruce
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Figleaf

Quote from: brandm24 on February 22, 2023, 08:19:42 PMI double checked the auction listing and found that the seller was from Prague, Czech Republic, not the US as I originally thought. Does this change your view on the coin in any way?

It does. The same cross occurs in the arms of what is now the Slovak republic, albeit placed on the middle of three hills. It is also used in the arms of several Slovak municipalities. If it was counterstamped there, it is not clear why the host is a French coin, though.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

brandm24

That muddies the waters a bit more. It's hard to tell for sure Its purpose now. Still interesting but I'd have to peg it as undetermined.

Bruce
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