A Tale of Two Francs (or how handling objects can inspire your writing)

I touched on this (pardon the pun) in my post about getting iconic weapons wrong... Sometimes the difference between seeing something in a book/online and physically getting hold of it (or having a ride in it, or using it, or going to the actual location or whatever) isn't just the obvious sensory authenticity with which you can now layer your writing. Sometimes it's so surprising it sparks a whole fresh idea.

Take the 2-Franc coin on the left, dated 1943. I just pulled it and its 1945 sister out of a childhood coin collection in an old cigar box in the garage – almost by chance but also because I was curious about the differing designs.  You see, one was minted during the German occupation and the other after Liberation.

In many ways, 1943 was the worst of times. By then, the Nazis had finally occupied all of France and the oppressive reality of that was even reflected in the coinage. In place of the personification of Liberty and the Republic, you got an axe, a couple of sheaves and FRENCH STATE. Instead of Equality and Fraternity... WORK, and FAMILY (as in 'you wouldn't want anything to happen to yours.'). Not to mention what the coins are made of – scrap aluminium. They weigh almost nothing.

And that's what got me thinking. Idly, I tossed one – and failed to catch it. Whether because of muscle memory or a light breeze, I found it surprisingly hard to do, because of the coin's uncanny lack of mass. So imagine a Special Operations Executive agent sent to work with the French resistance, unfamiliar with the latest coinage. They have to decide between two targets to sabotage, they flip a coin and...

I dunno. As I've said before, I don't write about F-Section; I let others do that. But it's either a nice little tactile detail or, potentially, some kind of initiating incident. And I wouldn't even have thought of it if I hadn't picked up the coin, that's my point.

Anyway, you can have that. Maybe someone can do something with it.

Vive la France!