20 Xu

The Democratic Republic of Vietnam declared independence on September 2, 1945, and these aluminum coins were among the first sovereign issues of the new government — struck before French forces had fully reconsolidated control in the south. Aluminum was the only practical metal available; wartime occupation had stripped Vietnam's industrial reserves, and the Viet Minh administration was working with whatever could be sourced domestically.

The First Indochina War began in December 1946, and most of this coinage was out of meaningful circulation well before that point. Survivors in any condition are genuinely scarce.