Token Or Coin | French Indochina Piastre

One Piastre coin from French Indo-China (now called Viet Nam). It is a large 90% silver coin weighing 27 grams (0.7812 troy ounces of pure silver). The front has an image of Liberty seated and facing left holding a bundle of sticks (or "fasces"), with "Republique Francaise" above and the date below. The back has a wreath with "Piastre de Commerce" inside, "Indo-Chine Francaise" above, and "Titre 0.900 Poids 27 GR" below.

Just a word of caution, the Piastre in question has been extensively counterfeited in China. Most forgeries are NOT SILVER and are significantly underweight. In addition most I have examined personally have split tail reeds or the ends of the reeds have been filed off.

Here is a sketch I did for another topic which discussed forgeries made with a ring die. The cast coins are in this case forced through a ring shape die that cuts fake reeds into the edge of the coin.



It is best to examine the entire edge to make sure there is no overlap in the reeding pattern either. Some forgeries were made by applying the reeds with a flat bar die. There are NO OVERLAPS in the reeds on the edge of a coin when they are applied with a COLLAR.