1 Pagoda Pondichery

The Compagnie des Indes struck pagodas at Pondicherry in direct imitation of indigenous South Indian coinage — a deliberate choice to gain acceptance in local markets where foreign-looking specie was treated with suspicion or refused outright. French colonial mints in India operated under constant pressure from the indigenous money-changers and shroffs who controlled everyday commerce and who would simply reject coins that deviated from familiar types.

The sixty-year span of this issue overlaps with the near-total destruction of French power in India. After the Seven Years' War and Pondicherry's fall to British forces in 1761, the city was razed so thoroughly that the mint itself ceased meaningful operation for years before the settlement was eventually returned to France under the 1763 Treaty of Paris.