Watch List notes:

NGUYEN DYNASTY (ANNAM): AR bài badge (6.01g), Sylvester-, 36 x 59mm, BAN-HOI-TE ("meeting committee") across field, with the Chu Nom equivalent below in central rectangle flanked by laurel branches, scroll above engraved with TRAVINH, colored with red enamel in center & along the edge, pierced at top & bottom for suspension, VF-EF, ex John Sylvester Jr. Collection. The ban hôi tê was the local council that effectively ruled villages & towns across southern Vietnam before 1953. It controlled all aspects of village life and was responsible for maintaining the social order, which largely evolved around tenant farming. While theoretically composed of the wisest & most honorable members of the community, the positions were in reality held by the wealthiest landlords, or the few who could afford the hefty bribe for a seat (reportedly costing 1,000 piastres in one rural district, or the equivalent of around $5000 today). Members of the ban hôi tê operated above the law, with little accountability to the imperial court or the French colonial government later. They were feared and avoided by the average people, and were naturally the target of assassinations by the Viet Minh during the 1940 's & '50 's.

Estimate: 150-200 USD