A RARE 1860 CAMBODIA PIASTRE

This week’s homepage coin is from the French Protectorate of Cambodia in Southeast Asia. Here is the very short version of how France gained control of the country. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the ancient Khmer Empire (Cambodia) came increasingly under the influence of its more powerful neighbors, Siam to the west and Annam (Vietnam) to the east. By the early 19th century, its national sovereignty had been lost, and Cambodia was placed under the joint suzerainty of Siam and Vietnam. During this time, the Cambodians continued to select kings who still had some authority over their internal affairs. King Ang Duong, who reigned from 1840 to 1860, tried unsuccessfully to forge an alliance with the French to help Cambodia regain more independence.

When Ang Duong died, his son Ang Voddey was chosen to succeed him, and he continued negotiations with the French. Ultimately, Ang Voddey, who took the name Norodom I, was literally forced at gunpoint to sign a treaty in 1863. That gave France control of Cambodia’s foreign relations in exchange for protection against its enemies, thus establishing the French Protectorate. Norodom could not be officially crowned king until 1864, after Siam finally released the Cambodian royal regalia (crown, sacred sword, and royal seal). As years went by, he became little more than a deputy to France, which gave him more time to spend with his own family. According to Wikipedia, he had 47 wives and 61 children, but no citation for those statistics is given. Norodom ruled with little power until his death in 1904, and the French retained control of Cambodia (from 1887 as part of French Indo China) until it became independent in 1953.

Several years after his coronation, Norodom issued a series of coins, all dated 1860. Most authorities believe they were struck in 1875, and Yeoman indicated the date 1860 on coins is the (incorrect) accession date. Of course, if 1860 was meant to commemorate the year he was selected to be king, not the year of accession, it would be correct. Yeoman listed eight types – 5 and 10 centimes in bronze, and in silver, 25 and 50 centimes, 1, 2, and 4 francs, and the crown size piastre, issued as a presentation piece. The bronze coins were struck at the Heaton mint in England, the six smallest silver denominations in Belgium. Piastres were struck both in both Paris and Phnom Penh. KM originally assigned these coins regular catalog numbers, but decided several years ago they were all medallic issues, and moved them to their Unusual World Coins catalog. It may be that some of the silver denominations did not circulate extensively, but that does not mean they were all medals. Dealer Scott Semans has pointed out that the bronze issues were clearly business strikes and belong in the regular catalog. My 10 centimes saw quite a bit of circulation and is not unusual at all.

The homepage coin, Jim’s piastre, is the one denomination that was definitely not meant to circulate. Back in 1966, Chicago’s Windy City Coin Company ran an ad in the Numismatist for a coin like Jim’s. It read: Truly a great rarity amongst the exotic type crowns of the world. This piece was designed by the great French sculptor Faconnet depicting the Royal Coat of Arms, and the denomination spelled out in five different languages in itself discloses the uniqueness of this specimen; only 200 struck for presentation. The languages below the coat of arms are French and Spanish, but I am not sure about the languages above the arms. They look as if they could be Vietnamese, Khmer, and Thai; if not, you can let me know.

The designer’s name Faconnet appears below Norodom’s bust, and the Windy City ad is the only description of the coin I could find in which Faconnet was identified. Their identification, however, was wrong. The great French sculptor’s name was not Faconnet but Falconet, and he died in 1791 – 43 years before Norodom was born. I believe I may have discovered the actual designer, in Volume 2 of Forrer’s 5,227 page Biographical dictionary of medallists: coin, gem, and seal engravers, mint-masters, &c., ancient and modern, with references to their works B.C.500 - A.D.1900, published by Spink in eight volumes between 1902 and 1930.

The entry for Faconnet, Marie Anne Eugenie reads: Sculptor born at Paris; Pupil of J[ustin] Lequien, Jr. She is the author of a number of Portrait medallions in clay which are not without merit. One exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1870 is mentioned by Chavignerie. Had Forrer or his source Chavignerie known that she designed the Cambodian piastre, he would have mentioned it. That short paragraph is certainly an underwhelming legacy for her, if in fact she is the Faconnet whose name is on this impressive coin. I doubt if many women were hired to design coins in those days. All the other denominations of the 1860 dated Cambodian coins were designed by the Belgian medallist Henri Charles Wurden, and the details of Norodom’s bust by the two designers is very similar.

Semans described three varieties of the piastre, and he added letters to the original KM number 49. Faconnet’s name on the variety he called KM-49a is more spread out and slightly curved, and on his KM-49b, it is straight and more tightly spaced. There were also restrikes struck many years later, which he designated KM-49r. Jim’s coin has the straight FACONNET, so his is variety 49b. In researching this coin, I found more than the usual amount of incorrect and conflicting online information, not only about who the designer was, but also about where the coins were minted, when they were minted, why they were minted, and how many were minted. If any of you have more definitive information, please let us know. Whatever the correct answers to these questions are, the fact is the 1860 Cambodian piastre is a very scarce coin indeed. Windy City was asking $950 for their choice proof example 55 years ago.

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