French Indochina 1939 20 cents

formerly in the Mountain Groan Collection

This type was struck 1939 only in nickel (KM 23) and copper-nickel (KM 23a.1). The nickel type is magnetic and the date is expressed "1939"; the copper-nickel type is not magnetic and the date is expressed "·1939·". It superseded the silver twenty cents struck heretofore. Another issue was struck in San Francisco in 1941. The Japanese entered French Indochina in September 1940 but did not assert full occupation until July 1941. This occupation caused the U.S. Congress to pass the Export Control Act, embargoing the sale of many strategic commodities to Japan. Japan, in turn, planned and staged the attack on Pearl Harbor and the British colonies at Hong Kong and Malaya in December.

Recorded mintage: 14,676,000 plus 344,500 of the nickel type.

Specification: copper-nickel, 24 mm diameter.

Catalog reference: KM 23a.1 (shown here).

Source:

• 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, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.

Link to:

• 1937 20 cents
• 1939 ½ cent
• 1939 cent
• 1939 5 cents
• 1939 10 cents
• 1941-S 10 cents
• 1941-S 20 cents
• Coins and currency dated 1939
• return to coins of French Indo-China