South East Asia Series - First modern silver coin of Thailand

Rama IV (Mongkut)

Silver Baht. 1860

King Rama IV or better known outside of Thailand as King Mongkut, was a visionary king who laid the foundations of Thailand's modernization effort during the late 19th century. Knowing Thailand must open up to the west amidst the fervor of western colonization across the world, he established western diplomatic missions and nurtured friendships such as then queen Victoria of Britain.

As a diplomatic gift and gesture, queen Victoria presented king Mongkut with a modern minting machine. With this, the first modern coinage were minted in 1860, replacing the traditional coinage (pod dang, etc) in Thailand. The first pioneering design such as this displayed a more elaborate design particularly surrounding the parasol lasted not more than a year.

Trivia: for those whom are unfamiliar with king Mongkut, you should watch Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I or the more recent Anna and the King.

 

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This coin was struck from a press ex the Soho mint which King Mongkut purchased from W.J. Taylor for 3000 pounds. The pieces struck from the press gifted by Queen Victoria feature large round rim beading (among other minor differences).

 

I see. . Thanks for highlighting the differences. Let me check that out

 

Here's a photo of one:
http://www.pcgs.com/cert/26049186

The rim beads aren't fully struck up due to an uneven strike as is often seen with this issue but you can see the general design differences from there.

Here's an article I wrote about the lead up to Thailand's first modern coins:
http://emuseum.treasury.go.th/articles-en/542-modern-thai-coinage.html

 

Yes. I noticed. Thanks. I see the difference now. Thanks for clarifying.

 

great coin. envy is the word.

 

Thanks

 

Wow Walter, (@wprime ), nice article. Great to see another Thai collector. I collect Thai coins, especially medieval, since my wife is Thai and my sons half Thai. I have the references, especially loving Siamese Coins, From Funan to the Fifth Reign published a couple of years ago. I have all of the cultures and most of the types, missing only the great rarities really. I am especially heavy in Lanna coins, since my wife is from Lampang and we own land in the area.

Oh, and of course, extremely nice baht Goh. Great piece. You should have touched upon the fact of the small change, (1, 2, and 4 att), made right after this was modeled on Brittania pennies. Siam simply made Siamese versions of Brittania in honor of the fact the press was a gift from Great Britain.

 

Thanks @medoraman . I actually did not know very much about Thai coins to mention that. . I only have very few Thai coins but slowly exploring into this field

 

Here is the coin I am talking about. They intentionally made it resemble the UK coinage in honor of the press the UK gave them, but made it "Siamese".



Like I said before, "Siamese Coins, From Funan to the Fifth Reign", is the best book on these coin IMHO if you want to delve in more. This is assuming you are more interested in the earlier coinage like me. Krause covers their later coinage pretty well, and there are a couple of Thai publications in English that cover later coinage as well.

 

I recommend Ron's book too, his book won an award in 2013 as the best numismatic publication for the year (on any topic).

 

The book has so much depth of knowledge. Ron is currently completing a new book on the evolution of Thai money with origins in ancient kingdoms.

 

Thanks for the recommendation

 

Wonderful to hear. Could you please post whenever its done? I would hate to miss it. I liked his first book so much I actually bought two copies.

 

I will post as soon as it is published.

 

I attended the launch of the new book yesterday in Bangkok. It is very comprehensive and in both Thai and English language.

 

This is the author that I use for my main reference. Is this title also being published by River Books? I will definitely get a copy.

 

Hello, i am new on the forum and i must say the articles of Thai coins are very interesting. I collect now about three years and have a quiet nice collection already but you know, the chase never ends. Trying to buy all the books about Thai coins is already a difficult task, by the way the book "Evolution of the Thai money" is beautifull and very helpfull. The book " from Funan to the fifth reign" is impossible to find, i went to River books but they told me it was selled out. My mother language is Dutch and i am now writing a book of the Thai coins in the Dutch language, i want to use a lot of foto's but i am afraid of the copyricgts so i try to make my own foto's from my coins. Some coins i dont have and i am looking for free foto's ( by exemple the foto from medoraman from the funag money) Can anyone give me some advise please. Thanks for all the good articles, keep on hunting. ( and for everyone " happy new year"

 

Try contacting NumisBid Asia or Siam Rare Books & Collectibles. Both of them had stock at one stage. Both can be contacted via Facebook.

 

that coin is amazing. is it gold or silver and what grade is it ? I collect some Thailand.... The 3 elephant kind 3 denominations and the facing left elephant ones