Sapeque Pattern

The sapeque was France's attempt to rationalize coinage for Cochinchina and, later, the broader Indochina federation — a direct-cash replacement for the Vietnamese cash coins still circulating in vast quantities through the 1880s. This 1887 pattern was produced at Paris as part of that evaluation process; the design was ultimately rejected, and the following years saw further trials before the definitive Indochinese issues were settled. Nickel silver was itself under consideration as a cost-saving alternative to bronze for tropical colonial circulation, where humidity accelerated corrosion.

The Lecompte reference places this among only a handful of confirmed pattern survivors.