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50 Cents - Sisavang Vong Essai
| Issuer | Laos |
|---|---|
| Year | 1952 |
| Type | Coin pattern |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central field features a large stylized eight-petaled lotus or leaf rosette, each petal finely detailed with incised veining, surrounding a central circular perforation. The denomination '50' appears to the lower left and 'CENTS' to the lower right in Latin characters, while Lao numeral equivalents flank the rosette at mid-field. Above the central device, the royal cypher or Lao script legend is inscribed at the top of the field. Below the rosette the word 'ESSAI' is inscribed in small capitals, identifying this piece as a pattern strike, with the date '1952' flanked by small ornamental devices in the lower portion of the field. |
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| Reverse lettering | ໕໐ ຈັດ 50 CENTS ESSAI 1952 |
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| Additional information |
The 1952 Laotian essai series was produced in Paris as France moved to formalize coinage for the newly constituted Kingdom of Laos under the French Union. Essais of this period were struck by the Monnaie de Paris as trial pieces for official approval — not intended for circulation, and distributed primarily to collectors and government officials. Sisavang Vong had ruled since 1904, first under French protectorate and then, briefly, under Japanese-backed nominal independence in 1945 before France reasserted control.
The aluminium composition reflects postwar material constraints still affecting French mint production in the early 1950s.