Thailand. Kingdom of Ayuthayya 15-18th century. Chakra wheel and ulamon (Conch shell) symbols. 6 1/2 Baht Silver Pod Duang. Ex Charles J Opitz personal collection. Huge and heavy silver bullet coin at 97g. Very rare denomination. Whilst common in low denominations of 1 Baht, higher denominations at 2 Baht and above becomes exponentially scarcer. The usual denominations from 1 Baht and above are 2 Baht, 4 Baht, 8 Baht and 24 Baht (The last which are reserved for royal commemorative events). These silver bullets were the predominant circulating currency of the kingdom that lasted way up to the 19th century when the modernisation of Thailand saw the introduction of the modern struck coins during the reign of King Mongkut in late 19th century. Whilst discontinued, the last pod duangs were introduced during King Chulalongkorn's reign only as purely royal ceremonial purposes. These bullets are unique for their design. However the large ones gave a good solid ingot feel to them. A favourite acquisition for the end on 2019. Here are additional photos of their size and design. The last being a sticker at the base of the coin by Opitz himself as part of his catalog.
That's a great large example, very nice thanks for sharing! Those larger denominations are hard to find and a silver nugget coin approaching 100 grams is surely very impressive to hold. I think these bullet coins weren't officially demonetized until 1904 or so. Definitely a unique and interesting ingot/nugget class of currency. I have some common predominantly 19th century ~15g bahts and ~3.5g 1/4 bahts, and a pretty unusual 62 gram Tamlung or 4 baht coin that I believe is from the 15th century.
Thanks.. You have a nice handful of bullets there. I initially wanted to at least get a crown/dollar weight 2 Baht bullet. But when this 6.5 Baht came and with strong provenance, inward very glad I managed to get it. 6.5 baht are a rare denomination based on what I gathered more so than the heavier 8 baht.
That's a nice chunk of silver. Forget bullet money - that's a small cannonball! I've put in a few middling bids for these but have never actually won one. Just about the closest analogy to these that I do own are Japanese mameita-gin which are quite different in fabric, design, and overall use.
Thanks.. Ah yes the mameita gin. They are pretty cool too. I have one of them also. The larger one you should check out with decent chunky weights are the Chogin as well
Nice bullet money! In the future i may collect these after I do more research as I'm very cautious about these
It looks like something Mr. Opitz may have made a mistake with, I remember his auction in November on HA. I bought some of his tribal silver. There were no pod duang of this weight during Ayutthaya. The piece from the back doesn't look like any pot duang I've ever seen. I believe this is a temple offering, I have some here. They were not produced the same way as pod duangs. They are usually also not silver.
