piastre of French Indochina

E96846

colonial currency historical currency

The piastre of French Indochina was the colonial monetary unit used across French-controlled territories in Southeast Asia, including present-day Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Aliases (3)

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	colonial currency → historical currency →
country	French Indochina →
currencyOf	French Indochina →
denominationType	banknote → coin →
endOfUse	1953 →
exchangeRate	1 piastre = 10 French francs (initial peg) → 1 piastre = 17 French francs (later peg) →
introduced	1885 →
introducedBy	French colonial administration →
ISO4217Code	none →
issuingAuthority	Banque de l’Indochine → French Indochina Treasury →
metalUsed	copper → nickel → silver →
monetarySystem	bimetallic standard →
notableEvent	subject of the Piastres scandal in the late 1940s and early 1950s →
notableFeature	served as common currency for multiple protectorates and colonies in Indochina →
peggedTo	French franc →
region	Southeast Asia →
replaced	Mexican peso (as main trade coin) → Spanish dollar (as main trade coin) →
replacedBy	Cambodian riel → Lao kip → North Vietnamese đồng → South Vietnamese đồng →
scriptOnCurrency	Chinese characters → Khmer script → Lao script → Latin alphabet → Vietnamese quốc ngữ →
subdivision	cent → sapèque →
subunitName	cent → sapèque →
subunitRatio	1 piastre = 100 cents → 1 piastre = 600 sapèques →
symbol	$ →
usedDuring	French colonial period in Indochina →
usedIn	Annam → Cambodia → Cochinchina → Laos → Protectorate of Cambodia → Protectorate of Laos → Tonkin → Vietnam →

Referenced by (4)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
Protectorate of Annam →	currency
piastre of French Indochina ("French Indochina Treasury") →	issuingAuthority
Lao kip ("French Indochinese piastre") →	replacedCurrency
Cambodian riel ("Indochinese piastre") →	replacing