10 Cents Obverse Trial

French Indochina's coinage underwent significant material changes in the late 1930s as the threat of war made strategic metals increasingly contested. This nickel trial piece for the 10 centimes denomination dates to 1939, the year the administration was already anticipating supply disruptions that would force a wholesale shift toward aluminum and zinc issues within just a few years. Whether this obverse trial advanced beyond the testing stage is unclear — the production coinage of this period moved to different compositions entirely as Japanese occupation reshaped what was physically possible to mint.