French India: Æ Biche, 1785, Mahé (KM#65)

[Quant.Geek]

A sibling to (http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php/topic,19017.0.html) that I recently acquired, c'est beau, non? (remembering my French from college days...)

French India: Æ Biche, 1785, Mahé (KM#65)

Obv: 5 Fleur-de-lis
Rev: Date

[Figleaf]

Non. Ce n'est pas beau. Elle est excellente, merveilleuse et magnifique.

On your picture, the date looks incuse to me. I thought it ought to be en relief but am not sure. It may well be just the light.

Biche is literally doe in French. It is also used by French husbands for beloved wives. Here, it is the French version of "pice", though. The P - B inversion is relatively frequent and just a softening of the sound. The ch prolly gives you a clue to how "pice" was pronounced by the non-English.

Peter