1 Fanon - Louis XV Pondicherry mint

The French East India Company's Pondicherry mint operated under persistent pressure from both the local silver market and the Company's chronically unstable finances. The fanon denomination itself was borrowed directly from the Tamil monetary system — the term derives from "panam," a widely used south Indian unit — and the Company adopted it as a practical concession to local commerce rather than any effort to impose a French monetary framework. The date range on this type spans the Company's 1769 dissolution and reconstitution under royal control, meaning later strikes were technically issued by the Crown, not the original trading entity.