1944 Allied coinage in France. Why? [επιλυμένο]

According to the AllNumis site on the this page: https://www.allnumis.com/community-currencies-catalog/france/occupation-currency/2-francs-1944-allied-occupation-172

"In preparation of the Liberation of France during World War II, the Allies decided to create "French" temporary money, which would be introduced by the American soldiers, during the progress of their Army through the country. This coin was struck by the Philadelphia Mint and circulated in the South of France and in Algeria, then still part of the French "Empire". This is the only metallic coinage struck for that purpose. But several banknotes were printed simultaneously, and circulated widely in France."

Why? I would think that a liberating army would have many other things on their minds, such as the war, not dying, food, shelter, and so on. Wouldn't the choice of currency fall so far behind the other concerns that it wouldn't matter?
I can understand how they would want to establish themselves after the country was liberated and at peace, but why would it matter when there was still a war going on?

Thanks

Short answer, it was somewhat politically motivated.

Long answer:
From what I've read, it seems the banknotes being referred to here are AMGOT (Allied Military Government of Occupied Territories) currency notes, like this:


These notes were issued by AMGOTs for provisional use in Germany, Austria, Italy, and Japan from 1943 to 1945; US President Franklin Roosevelt had insisted that there also be an AMGOT set up in France after the Liberation, but this was bitterly opposed by Free French leader Charles de Gaulle, who saw it as akin to asserting France was a defeated Axis power, as well as the establishing of an "American protectorate" in France.

Nonetheless notes were printed anyway, and Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy and Provence with them. But no AMGOT ended up being established in France, because shortly afterwards the Free French established the Provisional Government of the French Republic (GPRF), and declared the AMGOT notes "counterfeit currency", and "greenbacks (US currency) denominated in Francs". The Allies ended up recognising the GPRF, and letting de Gaulle have his way, and the AMGOT notes were quickly taken out of circulation, replaced by the normal French francs.

So, long story short; the "temporary money" was created because FDR planned to establish an AMGOT over France, but de Gaulle beat him to it with the GPRF.

Thank you, that is an interesting piece of history. I wonder if I can find one of those notes for my collection.

Is that why the 2 FR coins only say "FRANCE" on one side and "LIBERTE-EGALITE-FRATERNITE" with a date and value on the other side, so the coins wouldn't be seen as an insult by de Gaulle? Were the coins ever used or was that just part of FDR's plans that changed with the establishment of the Provisional Government of the French Republic?

In the Numista catalog, it just lists them as "common coin", not a token, so I assumed it was actually used as a currency in some areas.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces1179.html

Thanks. I have learned so much history and geography from collecting coins that I wonder why they don't add coin collecting to the curriculum in schools!

Απόσπασμα: "Pott"​
​Is that why the 2 FR coins only say "FRANCE" on one side and "LIBERTE-EGALITE-FRATERNITE" with a date and value on the other side, so the coins wouldn't be seen as an insult by de Gaulle? Were the coins ever used or was that just part of FDR's plans that changed with the establishment of the Provisional Government of the French Republic?
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​De Gaulle was offended by what he perceived as a violation of French sovereignty (which to him was the entire AMGOT plan), so I don't think he would be so easily placated just by adding the Republican trifecta onto the AMGOT currency (it was also put on some of the AMGOT notes IIRC).

The 2 Franc coins did indeed circulate, but according to this source they were "officially" issued by the treasury of the GPRF rather than any French AMGOT, after some "heated discussion". So perhaps that is why their circulation was tolerated by the GPRF more than the AMGOT notes, which were demonetised completely by 1947.

They were issued to French and American soldiers participating in Operation Dragoon, the landing in Provence (the south of France) that is often overshadowed by Operation Overlord, the more famous landing in Normandy two months earlier; and this is reflected interestingly in the availability of those coins; they are much more commonly found in coin shops in the south of France than elsewhere in France even today.

As you indicated in your original question, the 2 franc coins circulated in France and in Algeria, according to several numismatic sources.