My “REPOBLIKA MALAGASY” telephone token, at 300dpi.
MADAGASCAR (1 of 2)
Two things....
A Telephone Token
Some Madagascan Notgeld
See more at... Madagascar - Page 2 of 2
French influence has been quite apparent in Madagascar’s coins for most of the last 100 years - the French language, the French demomination names (Centimes and Francs) and fact that many types were made by the French mint (those pieces including the privy marks of that mint).
My “REPOBLIKA MALAGASY” telephone token, at 300dpi.
The legend on the token is “REPOBLIKA MALAGASY” which
was the country name from 1958 to 1975 (though used for some years afterwards
on some coinage denominations). The only other design element is the pair
of French Mint privy marks. These privy marks are the Cornucopia and the
Owl, this combination dates the piece to an approximate period of 1958
to 1974. The diameter (18mm), thickness and shape (including groove) of
this piece are a match for the much commoner French telephone token type
generically dated 1937 (see France Type A-1 in "Catalog of Telephone and
Telegraph Tokens", by H. A. Groenendijk, 1989). This Madagascan token though
is of a different material to the Copper-Nickel used for the French tokens.
Going by the colour of the piece and the light corrison to be seen on it,
it would seem to be made from Steel, (a Steel that is not attracted to
a magnet).
Here are two of the series of three pieces of Madagascan notegeld as listed but not illustrated by “Standard Catalog of World Coins” (KP Books, 33rd edition, 2006). The lack of illustrations there is likely due to the fact pieces of this series are rarely offered.
Madagascar 25 Centimes token KM-Tn1. (Scaled to 200dpi,
image from Eugene Freeman)
The legend reads on this piece reads “SOCIÉTÉ DES MINES D’OR” / “25c” / “DE L’ANDAVAKOËRA”. The legend translates as “Gold mining company of Andavakoëra”. The image is scaled to approximately 200dpi per the stated diameter in SCWC2006 of 21mm.
Madagascar 50 Centimes token KM-Tn2. (Scaled to 200dpi,
image from Eugene Freeman)
The legend on this piece reads “SOCIÉTÉ DES MINES D’OR” / “50c” / “DE L’ANDAVAKOËRA”. The image is scaled to approximately 200dpi per the stated diameter in SCWC2006 of 28mm.
Finally, according to SCWC2006, the 1 Franc is similar to KM-Tn1 and has a diameter of 32mm. All pieces are made from Aluminium.
See more at... Madagascar - Page 2 of 2
This page started with info and image of the telephone token at May
2005.
Added "Some Madagascan Notgeld" at August 2005.