Indo - Chine French Indochina 1 Cent 1938 A - centième - bronze coin with center hole - Indochine Française - Paris Mint - Vietnam Laos Cambo EF+

French Indochina, bronze 1 Cent, also called a centième, 1938, struck in Paris at the Monnaie de Paris, mint letter A. The cent was one hundredth of a piastre and has a round hole in the centre.

Obverse: a seated allegory of the French Republic protecting a smaller figure that represents Indochina. The legend reads REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE. Below the hole are the value 1 CENT and the mint letter A for Paris. The design is by the engraver Jean-Baptiste Daniel-Dupuis.

Reverse: the legend INDO-CHINE FRANÇAISE, four Chinese characters that together mean one hundredth, and below them the year 1938.

References: KM 12.1, Lecompte 99.
Provenance: ex Monnaies d'Antan sale 35, lot 1252.

French Indochina was made up of French colonial territories in what is now Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. The Indochinese Union was formed in 1887 from Tonkin, Annam, Cochinchina and Cambodia. Laos was added in 1893. The money system was built around the piastre, which was divided into one hundred cents. This small coin was made in Paris and shipped to Southeast Asia for everyday payments. The hole in the middle follows the old East Asian habit of stringing holed coins on a cord. The value appears in French on the obverse and in Chinese characters on the reverse, so the coin could be used both within the colonial administration and in local trade. The 1938 piece belongs to the last issues of this type, which was struck for the final time in 1939. Soon afterwards the Second World War and the Japanese occupation changed a great deal, yet the Indochinese piastre stayed in use into the 1950s.

A small coin where French colonial power and the East Asian coin tradition visibly come together.

vanzandwijkmunten: because one coin is never enough.

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vanzandwijkmunten: Because one coin is never enough

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