Fuang - Norodom I

Norodom I was not yet king in 1847 — he ascended the throne in 1860 — making this attribution to his reign a point of ongoing debate among Southeast Asian numismatists. The coin was struck under the broader Cambodian royal coinage system that bore his name retrospectively, during a period when the kingdom was caught between Siamese suzerainty and mounting French interest in the Mekong. Billon issues from this period circulated alongside Vietnamese and Siamese currency, reflecting Cambodia's fragmented monetary reality before the French Protectorate imposed a unified system in 1863.