French Indochina

French Indochina

Union of French Dependencies (1887-1945, 1946-1949)

Location: Southeast Asia

Capital City: Saigon (1887-1902, 1945-1949), Hanoi (1902-1945)

Government type: French Colony and Protectorates

Main languages: French, Vietnamese, Lao, Khmer

Main religions: Buddhism, Vietnamese Folk Religion, Catholic Christianity, Hmong Shamanism

Chronology

1887: Colony of Cochinchina united with Protectorates of Annam, Tonkin, Laos, and Cambodia

1940-1945: Adminsitered by Vichy France

1945: Occupied by Japan and split into three puppet states before French rule is restored

1949: Split into the states of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam within the French Union

Currency

Piastre (1880-1952)

1 Piastre = 100 Centimes = 500 Sapeques

Coins from French Indochina in the collection

•1/4 Centime, 1941 (zinc, Osaka mint, KM#25) Vichy French

•1/2 Centime, 1938 (bronze, Paris mint, KM#20)

•1 Centime, 1886 (bronze, Paris mint, KM#1)

•1 Centime, 1941 (zinc, KM#24)

•5 Centime, 1943 (aluminum, Hanoi mint, KM#27) Vichy French

•10 Centime, 1939 (cupronickel, Paris mint, KM#21.1a)

•20 Centime, 1937 (silver (.680), Paris mint, KM#17.2)

•20 Centime, 1941 (cupronickel, Paris mint, KM#23a)

•1 Piastre, 1947 (cupronickel, Paris mint, KM#32.2)

Banknotes from French Indochina in the collection

•10 Centime, 1942 (P#89) Vichy French

•1 Piastre, 1949 (P#54)