20 centimes à consommer - Sirène

Obverse

Mermaid in the waters blowing into a conch shell, circular legend around it, in a listel wavy on the inside and striated on the outside.

Script: Latin

Lettering:
BUSSOZ
PARIS
DEPOSE

Reverse

Mermaid in the waters blowing into a conch shell, face value and use around it, mint mark at the bottom, in a wavy scroll on the inside and ridged on the outside.

Script: Latin

Lettering:
20c A CONSOMMER
FC

Unabridged legend: 20 centimes

Edge

Plain.

Mint

Francis Cartaux, Paris, France

Comments

Unlike the evil creatures of the Odyssey haunting the coasts from Charybdis to Scilla, this mermaid appears to be the cerulean Nereid Cymothoe, or a feminine representation of her partner Triton, the messenger of the waves to whom poets attribute the office of calming the waves and stopping storms(Virgil - Aeneid, I-1.144).

This is an automatic translation. The original text is:

Contrairement aux créatures maléfiques de l’Odyssée hantant les côtes de Charybde en Scilla, cette sirène semble être la céruléenne Néréide Cymothoé ou une représentation féminine de son partenaire Triton, le messager des flots auquel les poètes attribuent l’office de calmer les flots et faire cesser les tempêtes (Virgile - Énéide, I-1.144).

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Numista Rarity index: 97

This index is based on the data of Numista members collections. It ranges from 0 to 100, 0 meaning a very common coin or banknote and 100 meaning a rare coin or banknote among Numista members.

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