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1 Fanon Mahe
| Issuer | French East India Company |
|---|---|
| Year | 1731-1737 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Irregular hammered silver flan bearing a two-line Arabic legend in the field, reading 'فرنچ / کمپانی' (Faranch Kampani, meaning 'French Company'). The script is rendered in a cursive Nasta'liq-influenced hand typical of Indo-Persian coinage of the period. The legend occupies the central field with no border or decorative surround, consistent with the crude hammered technique employed at the Mahe mint. The flan shows characteristic irregular edges and surface texture inherent to hand-struck issues of the French East India Company in India. |
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| Mintage | 1731 - - 1732 - - 1734 - - 1735 - - 1737 - - |
| Additional information |
The French East India Company — the Compagnie des Indes — established its principal Indian Ocean entrepôt at Mahé on the Malabar Coast in 1724, and this small silver fanon was struck specifically for that settlement's local trade. The fanon was a native unit of account already in use along the coast; the Company adopted it rather than imposing a French denomination, a pragmatic concession to local commercial practice that distinguished French policy in this region from more rigid colonial monetary approaches elsewhere.