French Indochina 1890-A piastre
This specimen was lot 1353 in Steve Album Auction 51 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2025), where it sold for $7,200. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRENCH INDOCHINA: French Colony, AR piastre, Paris Mint, 1890-A, key date, PCGS graded VF30, RR, ex Howard A. Daniel III Collection." This piastre is one of a type issued for French Indo-China during 1885-95. Piastres issued 1895 and later were reduced in weight to 27 grams and are quite a bit more available. The coin was intended to compete with various trade dollars from the Straits Settlements, India, Mexico and the United States.
Recorded mintage: 6,108, a rare date.
Specifications: 27.21 g, 0.900 fine silver, 0.787 troy oz ASW, 37 mm diameter, designed by Barré.
Catalog reference: KM-5, Lec-272.
- Gadoury, Victor, and George Cousinié, Monnaies Coloniales Françaises, 1670-1988, 2me Éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 1988.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 51, featuring the Howard Daniel III Collection of Asian Coins, the Almer H. Orr III Collection of World Coins and the Joe Sedillot Collection of German Coins, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2024.
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