Some of you may know that French Indochina doesn’t exist anymore, but at one time it was a colonial union made of the modern-day countries of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. It existed from 1887-1954.
After the defeat of French forces at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 the French gave up control over Indochina. This led to the independence of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia and the end of the French Indochina union.
Coins like this were the reason the U.S. Trade dollar was minted from 1873 to 1885. The U.S. Trade dollar was designed to compete with other large silver trade coins in East Asia.
The obverse and reverse of this coin where both design by Jean-Auguste Barre. His last name appears on the obverse of the coin.
The obverse lettering translates to FRENCH REPUBLIC. With the date directly below a seated MARIANNE. Who the hell is Marianne? I am glad you asked, because I didn't know either. Marianne is a female stand in that represents the French Republic and its ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity. This symbol came about sometime during the French Revolution.
Now Marianne is holding a what I found out to be a fasces. I had to look up what a fasces was as well. A fasces is a bound bundle of wooden rods, often but not always including an axe with its blade emerging.
On the reverse, the denomination is in the center inside the wreath. The reverse translates to the following: FRENCH INDOCHINA PIASTRA OF COMMERCE 0.900 PURITY, 27 GRAMS.
This coins has an A mint mark, which means it was actually minted in Paris. Some of these coins without a mintmark were actually minted in San Franscisco and others with an H mint mark minted in England.
If you have any further information about this coin you would like to add, like historical information I left out or want to correct any I may have gotten wrong, please drop it in the comments.
Thanks for reading,
Joe
Notes:
-All content is mine unless otherwise annotated.
-Images are my own unless otherwise noted.
-Photos edited using MS Paint and/or iPhone SE.
-Page Dividers from The Terminal Discord.
