10 Cents

The Banque de l'Indochine held a private concession from the French government to issue currency across French Indochina — an arrangement that gave a commercial bank, rather than the state, direct control over monetary policy for the entire colony. This coin circulated across Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos simultaneously, used in transactions ranging from coolies' daily wages to opium farm tax payments, the latter being one of the colonial administration's most reliable revenue streams.

The long production run masks significant year-to-year mintage variation. Issues from the early 1900s are considerably scarcer than the more frequently encountered later dates.