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Sapeque Pattern
| Issuer | French Colonial Administration (Indochina) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1904 |
| Type | Coin pattern |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Hexagonal zinc flan with truncated corners, featuring a central hexagonal perforation framed by a raised circular border. Six Chinese characters are distributed around the central hole within the four quadrants of the field, reading 大法國之安南 當二, denoting 'French Annam, worth two.' The characters are rendered in a traditional brush-script style, boldly incuse, consistent with the cash-coin typology of the region. The plain field between the inscriptions and the inner border reinforces the functional, pattern-issue character of this colonial piece. |
| Reverse script | Chinese |
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| Additional information |
The 1904 zinc sapeque pattern was part of France's ongoing effort to replace the cast bronze cash coins that had circulated across Tonkin and Annam for centuries. Indigenous populations were deeply resistant to the switch — the familiar square-holed cash carried embedded commercial trust that a struck European-style coin could not simply inherit. The pattern series of this period tested multiple compositions and sizes before the administration settled on a workable circulating type.
Zinc was an unusual choice, prone to corrosion in the humid Indochinese climate, which likely contributed to its rejection for general issue.