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Hong Kong Signature Sale 3095 11-13 Dec 2021
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French Indo-China
French Colony copper-nickel Specimen Essai Piastre 1946 SP64 PCGS, Paris mint, KM-Unl., Gad-37 var. (there, only listed as reeded edge), Maz-259 var. (same), Favier/Kolsky-33, Lec-314 (Very Rare). Security edge. Type with INDOCHINE FRANÇAISE legend. A seemingly inconspicuous, and yet extremely rare, relic from the period of fragile relations between France and the Vietminh prior to the outbreak of the First Indo-China War in December 1946. Following the deactivation of Indo-China as an Allied Territory of Southeast Asia by Lord Mountbatten in March of that year, Ho Chi Minh and the French signed a preliminary agreement on March 6th providing for the official recognition of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam as a free state belonging to the Indo-Chinese Federation and the French Union. Subsequent struggles and the French announcement of the creation of an independent Cochin-China in June, however, reignited frustrations among the Vietminh, who desired to have Cochin-China reunited with Annam and Tonkin. Despite the holding of a conference between delegates from France and Vietnam at Fontainebleau from August to September, and the signing of a preliminary Modus Vivendi between the two, tensions would continue to flare, culminating in the outbreak of war in December.
In their book, Essais et Pieforts Français, 1943-1972, Favier and Kolsky report that this pattern was produced to a mintage of around 40 pieces prior to the Fontainebleau agreements and the Franco-Vietnam Modus Vivendi in September 1946, with the provisions of these arrangements leading to the destruction of "all" such trials--just a few surviving in private collections. Such would certainly make sense with the pegging of Indo-China Piastre to the French Franc, and the attempts to ease Franco-Vietnamese relations in March of that year--the replacement of the legend INDOCHINE FRANÇAISE with FÉDÉRATION INDOCHINOISE likely acting as a concession towards recognizing Vietnamese autonomy. While Lecompte originally assigned this type an arbitrary value in his general catalog of French colonial coins, in his specialized reference Monnaies et Jetons de l'Indochine Française, he subsequently chose to leave it unpriced, simply stating that examples are "very rare." Indeed, in the course of our research, we have only been able to locate a small handful of examples coming to auction, with PCGS reporting having certified 7 other examples. In hand inspection of this piece reveals relatively clean and tone free surfaces that exhibit a high degree of reflectivity, creating a strong visual allure. Simply a covetable opportunity for the scholar and collector of this series, and one not to be missed.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/french-indo-china/french-indo-china-french-colony-copper-nickel-specimen-essai-piastre-1946-sp64-pcgs-/a/3095-34096.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3095-12112021
HID02906262019
© 2020 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 12000-15000 USD
French Colony copper-nickel Specimen Essai Piastre 1946 SP64 PCGS, Paris mint, KM-Unl., Gad-37 var. (there, only listed as reeded edge), Maz-259 var. (same), Favier/Kolsky-33, Lec-314 (Very Rare). Security edge. Type with INDOCHINE FRANÇAISE legend. A seemingly inconspicuous, and yet extremely rare, relic from the period of fragile relations between France and the Vietminh prior to the outbreak of the First Indo-China War in December 1946. Following the deactivation of Indo-China as an Allied Territory of Southeast Asia by Lord Mountbatten in March of that year, Ho Chi Minh and the French signed a preliminary agreement on March 6th providing for the official recognition of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam as a free state belonging to the Indo-Chinese Federation and the French Union. Subsequent struggles and the French announcement of the creation of an independent Cochin-China in June, however, reignited frustrations among the Vietminh, who desired to have Cochin-China reunited with Annam and Tonkin. Despite the holding of a conference between delegates from France and Vietnam at Fontainebleau from August to September, and the signing of a preliminary Modus Vivendi between the two, tensions would continue to flare, culminating in the outbreak of war in December.
In their book, Essais et Pieforts Français, 1943-1972, Favier and Kolsky report that this pattern was produced to a mintage of around 40 pieces prior to the Fontainebleau agreements and the Franco-Vietnam Modus Vivendi in September 1946, with the provisions of these arrangements leading to the destruction of "all" such trials--just a few surviving in private collections. Such would certainly make sense with the pegging of Indo-China Piastre to the French Franc, and the attempts to ease Franco-Vietnamese relations in March of that year--the replacement of the legend INDOCHINE FRANÇAISE with FÉDÉRATION INDOCHINOISE likely acting as a concession towards recognizing Vietnamese autonomy. While Lecompte originally assigned this type an arbitrary value in his general catalog of French colonial coins, in his specialized reference Monnaies et Jetons de l'Indochine Française, he subsequently chose to leave it unpriced, simply stating that examples are "very rare." Indeed, in the course of our research, we have only been able to locate a small handful of examples coming to auction, with PCGS reporting having certified 7 other examples. In hand inspection of this piece reveals relatively clean and tone free surfaces that exhibit a high degree of reflectivity, creating a strong visual allure. Simply a covetable opportunity for the scholar and collector of this series, and one not to be missed.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/french-indo-china/french-indo-china-french-colony-copper-nickel-specimen-essai-piastre-1946-sp64-pcgs-/a/3095-34096.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3095-12112021
HID02906262019
© 2020 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 12000-15000 USD