1 Cent Pattern

The 1931 nickel silver pattern was part of a broader French effort to retool Indochinese coinage following persistent metallurgical complaints about the existing bronze cents — heat and humidity in the region accelerated corrosion and made the coins difficult to handle in commerce. Nickel silver was tested as a more durable alternative, but the proposal went nowhere; the colonial administration ultimately retained bronze for the cent denomination through the remainder of the series.

Surviving examples are rare by definition, as patterns of this type never left the Paris Mint in quantity.