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Counterfeit - 1 Piastre
| Issuer | French Indochina |
|---|---|
| Year | 1908 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | 2.6 mm |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Allegorical seated figure of Marianne, the personification of the French Republic, depicted facing left in classical draped robes, holding a fasces upright in her right hand, with tropical vegetation to her left. She wears a radiate crown and rests her left arm on a shield or support. The legend RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE curves along the periphery, divided to either side of the figure. The engraver's name BARRE appears in small letters at the base, with the date 1908 prominently displayed in the exergue below a straight ground line. The whole design is enclosed within a beaded border. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Mintage | 1908 |
| Additional information |
The legitimate 1908 piastre was struck in .900 silver at the Hanoi mint, which had opened in 1899 specifically to supply Indochina with coinage independent of metropolitan French production. This piece is magnetic, placing its core composition almost certainly in the iron or steel family — no silver content whatsoever. Contemporary counterfeiting of the piastre was endemic throughout the region, driven by the coin's heavy use as a trade currency well beyond French administrative borders into southern China and Siam, making a convincing fake profitable across multiple monetary jurisdictions.