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1/2 Fanon Pondichery
| Issuer | French East India Company (Compagnie des Indes Orientales) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1715-1720 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Variable alignment ↺ |
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| Obverse description | Central field occupied by a stylized fleur-de-lis motif rendered in a bold, somewhat abstracted hammered style, with three lobes rising above a cusped base. The design is surrounded by a series of crescent or arc-shaped pellets arranged radially around the periphery of the flan, forming a decorative border. The overall composition is characteristic of the crude hammered coinage produced at Pondicherry for local circulation, with the die work reflecting indigenous minting conventions adapted to French colonial symbolism. No legend or inscription is present. The irregular flan exhibits natural edge irregularities typical of hand-struck issues of this period. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Compagnie des Indes Orientales struck these small silver pieces at Pondicherry during a period when the French were actively trying to displace Dutch commercial dominance in the Indian Ocean trade. The fanon was a local denomination already in use across the Coromandel Coast, and the French adopted it rather than imposing a European monetary unit — a pragmatic concession to the realities of trading in markets where local merchants set the terms.
The company's Pondicherry mint operated intermittently and under chronic funding pressure, which accounts for the uneven production quality seen across survivors of this type.