Battered

Today's back blip is an emergency post war 1 Franc coin. We found it corroding like this in the garden last year and I've just got round to photographing it. It is made out of aluminium rather than a heavier metals like copper or nickel, so it feels like it weighs nothing (1.3 g). Aluminium while useful for aeroplanes and such is less critical than copper or nickel for the war effort so coins have been made from them in the past when times were hard. Aluminium is quite useful because it doesn't corrode easily, but this one has seen better days.

Apparently if you have any of these in near mint condition, they could be worth considerably more than their face value, this one isn't. Old French coins like this are not returnable to the Bank, their value now is only to collectors or scrap metal dealers.

Went to get some lavender oil today, and then some fish. We managed to dodge the rain and combine two bus trips on one ticket because of good timing. The photography club had an exhibition in town, which was very useful when the heavens opened on us.

On the way home we spotted the Pine processionary caterpillars (Thaumetopoea pityocampa). Not a good picture, so only an extra. They kill the local pine trees and with global warming have spread from the Med to Brittany over the past few decades and are now a serious pest.