If these are pig money I think they might be valuable.....approx. 71g.....I have so many unfamiliar items I think I need to take them to an expert....
Its neither. Its Tok money from Chieng Sen. The weight is on the high side, but otherwise looks fine. They are not sure what caused the reddish gold color on the pieces, but they are indicative of authentic pieces. I personally own about 8 examples, but then again one of my specialties is medieval coinage of Siam, especially from the Lanna area. These were made from about 1500 to around 1750 by most estimates. If you have any other questions, let me know. Edit: Btw my avatar is Chieng money from Chieng Sen from an earlier timeframe. This piece datse around the 13th century, but same city mint as yours Marbury. Cheing Sen was the "second city" of the Lanna kingdom, so are nearly as common as Chieng Mai examples.
Typically around $80 for such specimens. They aren't as popular as the Chieng money because they don't have writing on them.
That's still great as I bought a very large number of items for £90 hammer. Actually, I am a bit overwhelmed as I have no experience with most of it.......I even have wild boar tusks used in New Guinea.....things that look like jewellery but have some status or association as monetary use.........a German numismatist consigned a huge collection to Warwick and Warwick in the UK and these were part of that consignment. I am going to film the whole lot this morning and post it on u-tube.......will then post link on CT.
I recognize a lot of them, kissi penny, manilas,tiger tongues, etc. You wouldn't have gotten that lot for 90 pounds if I had been in the room!
What is the long metal item with tail....about 7 inches long....Chinese?? Any yes.........think I did well getting the group......even the tusks look really impressive.
The 7 inch long items, (looks like you have three), are "tiger tongues" from SE Asia. The early ones were made of silver, later ones copper. They were from Laos but many Thai collectors have them.
No I mean this......I only thought one was a tiger tongue......and two ordinary boat money....I think this shown is maybe 8 or 9 inches.
That's the kissi penny. An excellent lot. You got a killer deal at £90. Not so much because all of the pieces are valuable, but because they are very hard to find.
The kissi penny and the manila bracelet, while very recognizable, might be the least valuable part of the lot. Kissi pennies in particular are pretty cheap. If you want a good bok to identify these, Charles Opitz put out a book a while back. Try to find it in a library. There are more scholarly works, like Quiggin I own, but they are harder to find and do not have good pictures like Opitz has. Another alternative would be Scott Semans website www.coincoin.com. He deals with primitive money. I am pretty envious of your deal Marbury. Great score!
