Is anyone familiar with Annam (Vietnamese) cash coinage? I was told that the following pic of a cash coin was from Annam. Could some confirm this or maybe just point me in the right direction. Thx, Joe Annam Cash Tran Dynasty 1222-1258 AD Ruler: Tran Thai Tong Reign: Nguyen Hoa Thong Bao Obverse Side Reverse Side Top Character Bottom Character Left & Right Characters
This looks like it could be the top inscription of your coin, which is Yuan. I cannot make out any of the others. The pictured coin is a Chinese N. Song Yuan Feng TB. If the coin is Annan the top inscription would look similar and be Nguyen, so the attribution may be correct. Annan coins, are usually lighter than Chinese, so I would start there.
Joe, I have reviewed Barker, probably the best English language reference for Vietnamese cash, and cannot find a similar coin listed for the Tran dynasty for your top symbol. I am inclined to believe its the N Sung chinese cash that Redseal listed. Chris
Yup, it's the Northern Song 1078 to 1085 type. Edit: It's one of two versions, this one having the "seal" script, another has the "running" script. No real difference in value between the two.
The coin above was included in a Vietnam collection brought back from the war in 1968. So I was a bit suspicious. It could have just been a cash coin brought in trade centuries ago and just assumed to be Annam cash when the collection was put together.
Very likely sir. Chinese cash is found far and wide throughout Asia from Chinese merchants as well as simply trade. Vietnam has even more since Chinese cash was familiar to them, (being the basis of their own cash system), and highly valued since it usually contained more copper than their own. Chris
Okey dokey. So I've got that one out of the way. But I have 5 more on my albums page. Can you guys check'em out for me. http://www.cointalk.com/members/jlblonde/albums/annam-cash/ Thx, Joe BTW. Is it Annam or Annan?
Those do appear to be Annam cash. The two shown in the middle row are of the 1820 to 1841 type. The top one right is 1885 to 1888, and the top and bottom left are 1802 to 1819.
After a little more research I now believe your coin is Annam and from the Tran Dynasty. I posted a picture the what I felt was the top inscription earlier. David Hartill's book Cast Chinese Coins has a small section on Vietnam coins and shows that top inscription on one of the coins, H25.24, Nguyen Hoa Thong Bao, 1533-48. I have also found what I think is your exact coin listed for sale by one of the top US dealers in Chinese cast coins. Here's his description: VIETNAM, TRAN Dynasty, 1225-1400, Nguyen Phong Thong Bao, 1251-58. There's also a photo. I'm new and not sure if I could link to his site as its a for sale site.
On that site he lists the reference as Barker 13.2, and Toda not listed. I will check Barker tonight unless someone else has it. Concerning Hartill's Annam and japanese listings, I find them extremely incomplete and cursory, so I would always be hesitant to attribute anything to them, but I will chase it down. I think you could have linked the web address, if you are not the one selling and if only for reference here. Mr. Reis is a nice man, who does the A-Z world coin listings for World Coin News. He has older versions of those articles on his site, and I recommend him as a dealer. "One of the top dealers".....idk if I go that far. Frank Robinson for sure lists much more of these, as one or two others I know. Bob lists a little of lots of things, and like I said is recommended by me. Chris
Wow that one is extremely similar to the Northern Song coin, except for the bottom character, which is hard to make out on the OP's coin. Bob Reis is indeed a very nice fellow. He's helped me out with researching everything from medieval Asian coins to modern Latin American tokens over the past few years, and never charged a single cent for his help.
Here's a Northern Song I have that made me suspicious of the one in the Vietnamese collection that I had originally posted. Northern Song Cash Annam Cash coin in question
Barker 13.2 has a character that is different than the Chinese one posted. The main difference is the two parallel lines on the top are not even, going uphill left to right, and there is no vertical connecting stroke between them and the bottom on Barker 13.2. Weight may not help since 13.2 is listed at 3.7 grams, but similar Barker 13.1 only is 2.74 grams. Another consideration is 13.2 is listed as one star, (rare), by Barker, for what that is worth. Chris
