2 Cents Societe Francaise des Charbonnages du Tonkin

The Société Française des Charbonnages du Tonkin was the principal coal-mining conglomerate operating the Hòn Gai coalfields in northern Vietnam, and its scrip notes were a practical necessity — the mines were geographically isolated enough that standard Indochinese piastre coinage rarely circulated in sufficient quantity among the workforce. Company-issued tokens and paper fractionals like this filled the gap, redeemable only at company stores and canteens, which suited the management's interests as much as it solved any logistical problem.

The green paper stock is characteristic of the lower-denomination scrip from this issuer.