Pondichery 1837 fanon
This specimen was lot 806 in Steve Album Auction 52 (Santa Rosa, CA, May 2025), where it sold for $240. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRENCH INDIA: AR fanon, Pondichéry, 1837, crown // rooster, VF-XF." The French established a number of trading stations on the coast of India in the seventeenth century and made a serious challenge to British claims of supremacy in the eighteenth century. After a close run campaign fought during the Seven Years War, British command of the sea told and the French were defeated. Their zone of control was reduced to the trading stations they had long held, including Pondichery, where this specimen was struck. One rupee was eight fanon.
Recorded mintage: unknown but scarce.
Specification: silver, 9 mm diameter, this specimen 1.45 g.
Catalog reference: KM-54, Lec-84.
- 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 Dustin Wagner, Auction 52, featuring the Dr. Robert A. Rosenfeld Collection and the Almer H. Orr III Collection, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2025.
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