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1 Piastre
| Issuer | French Indochina |
|---|---|
| Year | 1885-1895 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | 2.7 mm |
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| Obverse description | Seated allegorical figure of the French Republic (Marianne), radiate and draped, facing three-quarters left, holding a fasces surmounted by a spear in her raised right hand and resting her left arm on a rudder; a sheaf of wheat stands to her left in the field. The legend REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE arcs along the periphery, with the date below in the exergue and the engraver's signature BARRE to the lower left. The design is executed in high relief in the classical academic style characteristic of Barre's work for the Monnaie de Paris. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central field bears the three-line inscription PIASTRE DE COMMERCE within an open wreath composed of oak and laurel branches tied at the base with a ribbon bow, with the Paris mint mark 'A' appearing below the wreath junction. The circumferential legend INDO-CHINE FRANCAISE arcs along the upper periphery, while the lower arc carries the fineness and weight specifications A TITRE 0,900. POIDS 27,215 GR., all separated by raised dots. The overall design emphasizes the coin's trade dollar character, intended to circulate alongside other major silver trade coinage in the Far East. |
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| Additional information |
The Piastre de Commerce was established by decree in 1885 specifically to compete with the Mexican peso, which had become the dominant trade coin across Southeast Asia and southern China. French colonial authorities were frustrated that Mexican silver was financing commerce in their own territory, and the new coin was deliberately matched in weight and fineness to be a credible substitute. It largely failed in that ambition — merchants in Cochinchina and the treaty ports continued preferring Mexican pieces well into the 1890s.
Dies were cut at the Paris Mint. The series spans multiple die marriages across the decade, documented by Lecomte across references 266 through 275.