1/2 Satang - Rama VIII

Ananda Mahidol was ten years old and living in Switzerland when this coin was struck in his name. He had been placed on the throne in 1935 following the abdication of his uncle Prajadhipok, making him one of the youngest reigning monarchs in the world at the time. The half satang was already a marginal denomination by the late 1930s, and production of this type was short-lived — Rama VIII was shot dead in his bedroom at the Grand Palace in June 1946, the circumstances still officially unresolved.