This coin marks one of the most politically charged issues in Laotian numismatic history. Struck in the final months of the constitutional monarchy, it was authorized under Savang Vatthana — the last king of Laos — before the Pathet Lao seized full power in December 1975 and abolished the throne. The king abdicated on 2 December 1975; the regime that replaced him would later confine him to a re-education camp in Vieng Xai, where he died, almost certainly in 1978.
Few issues so precisely bracket a political collapse.
This coin marks one of the most politically charged issues in Laotian numismatic history. Struck in the final months of the constitutional monarchy, it was authorized under Savang Vatthana — the last king of Laos — before the Pathet Lao seized full power in December 1975 and abolished the throne. The king abdicated on 2 December 1975; the regime that replaced him would later confine him to a re-education camp in Vieng Xai, where he died, almost certainly in 1978.
Few issues so precisely bracket a political collapse.