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.

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All labels observed (4)

Label	Occurrences
French Indochinese piastre	3
piastre of French Indochina canonical	3
French Indochina Treasury	1
Indochinese piastre	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T808443 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: piastre of French Indochina
Context triple: [Protectorate of Annam, currency, piastre of French Indochina]

A. Cambodian riel
The Cambodian riel is the official national currency of Cambodia, used alongside the US dollar in everyday transactions.
B. Vietnamese đồng
The Vietnamese đồng is the official fiat currency of Vietnam, known for its relatively low value per unit and frequent use of large denominations.
C. French Indochina
French Indochina was a French colonial federation in Southeast Asia, comprising territories such as Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, that existed from the late 19th century until the mid-20th century.
D. Protectorate of Annam
The Protectorate of Annam was a central Vietnamese monarchy under French colonial rule, forming one of the key constituent regions of French Indochina.
E. Cochinchina
Cochinchina was the southern region of Vietnam that became a French colony and later formed part of French Indochina.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: piastre of French Indochina
Target entity description: 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.

A. Cambodian riel
The Cambodian riel is the official national currency of Cambodia, used alongside the US dollar in everyday transactions.
B. Vietnamese đồng
The Vietnamese đồng is the official fiat currency of Vietnam, known for its relatively low value per unit and frequent use of large denominations.
C. French Indochina
French Indochina was a French colonial federation in Southeast Asia, comprising territories such as Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, that existed from the late 19th century until the mid-20th century.
D. Protectorate of Annam
The Protectorate of Annam was a central Vietnamese monarchy under French colonial rule, forming one of the key constituent regions of French Indochina.
E. Cochinchina
Cochinchina was the southern region of Vietnam that became a French colony and later formed part of French Indochina.
F. None of above. chosen

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 ⓘ linked to: French colonial empire
ISO4217Code	none ⓘ
issuingAuthority	Banque de l’Indochine ⓘ French Indochina Treasury ⓘ linked to: piastre of French Indochina
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 ⓘ linked to: French franc (Latin Monetary Union)
region	Southeast Asia ⓘ
replaced	Mexican peso (as main trade coin) ⓘ linked to: Mexican peso Spanish dollar (as main trade coin) ⓘ linked to: Spanish dollar
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 ⓘ linked to: Cambodia Protectorate of Laos ⓘ linked to: Laos Tonkin ⓘ Vietnam ⓘ linked to: Viet Nam

How these facts were elicited