Item number: M361

Year: AD 1841-1847

Material: Sliver

Size: 63.9 x 63.9 x 1.4 mm

Weight: 38.3 g

Provenance: Aguttes 2024

This is a medal issued during the reign of Emperor Thieu Tri of Vietnam’s Nguyen Dynasty, known as the ” Thieu Tri Tong Bao. The silver medal has the appearance of a square-holed coin.” On its obverse, the medal features an engraving of the sun and moon, accompanied by five planets and five auspicious clouds. There is also a hole designed for threading a cord, allowing the medal to be worn. Below the central design, three mountains rise from the waves alongside coral branches. On the reverse, an inscription reads: ” Jade and cinnabar at the end of a thousand years have been made into pure gold, in order to reward merit and remember virtue, as nothing is more precious than recognition of wisdom.” The text is arranged from top to bottom and read from right to left.

The “Thieu Tri Tong Bao” medal bears a striking resemblance to coins, leading to its local designation in Vietnam as “Tien” and its designation by the French colonialists as the “Coin of Honour.” The presence of the characters “Tong Bao” on the medal often leads collectors to mistake it for a coin. If one wishes to determine whether a “Tong Bao” is a medal or currency, the most suitable method is to check for additional perforations used to attach other decorations. Additionally, the presence of slanted lines is an important reference. Having slanted lines on the edge is a significant characteristic of circulating currency. The “Thieu Tri Tong Bao” discussed in this article has a perforation on the upper edge, indicating its use as a medal. The edge of this “Tong Bao” is very thin, indicating that it is not suitable for use as circulating currency due to its insufficient weight.

Since the founding of the Nguyen Dynasty, there was a tradition of bestowing gold upon meritorious officials and foreign monarchs. This practise was also used to boost the morale of the military by distributing large quantities of gold. However, in order to increase the treasury’s gold reserves, Emperor Minh Mạng sought to reduce the amount of gold consumed in these rewards. Consequently, in 1831, he commissioned the creation of special gold and silver coins, along with merit medals specifically designed for awarding honours. From that point on, the practise of granting custom-designed coins to those who distinguished themselves became a lasting tradition of the Nguyen Dynasty.

Based on the metal material, one can roughly determine the rank of the “Tien.” The highest rank, known as “Kim Tien” (Gold Tien), has four levels. In the early period of the Nguyen Dynasty, they were made of real gold, but later they gradually shifted to gold plating or basic metals. The next level, “Ngan Tien” (Silver Tien), sometimes follows European practises by indicating rank differences, but many “Silver Tiens” mainly display the regnal year of the emperor without specific rank distinctions.

物件編號:M361

年代: 公元 1841-1847 年

材質: 銀

尺寸: 63.9 x 63.9 x 1.4 mm

重量: 38.3 g

來源: 奧古特拍賣行 2024

這是一枚出自越南阮朝绍治帝在位期間的「绍治通寶」獎牌，該銀質獎章外觀為方孔錢，其正面上方有鑄有日月，伴有五顆行星和五朵祥雲，另外還有一個用於穿繩子以便用來配戴獎牌的孔洞。下方則是從波浪中冒出的三座山脈及珊瑚枝。後方則有一段銘文寫著:「玦澒千年化，盪鏐萬世傳，酬勲章有德，所寶者惟賢。」其閱讀順序是由上至下，由右至左。

「紹治通寶」外表和錢幣非常相似，該型制的獎章在越南當地稱作「錢(Tien)」，後續殖民越南的法國人稱其為「榮譽錢幣」。由於該獎章有「通寶」二字，故許多收藏家將其判斷為錢幣。若欲判斷一枚「通寶」究竟是獎章或貨幣最合適的方法，即是判斷「通寶」有無額外穿孔以銜接其他裝飾。除此之外，是否具備邊齒也是重要的參考依據，邊緣具有邊齒是作為流通貨幣的最大特徵。本文章探討的「紹治通寶」上緣有一穿孔，能直接判斷為獎章用途。該「通寶」的邊緣非常輕薄，代表其重量過輕並不適合充當流通貨幣。

自阮朝開國以來，便有著賞賜黃金給功臣或外國君主的慣例，並也曾利用賜予大量黃金的方式鼓舞軍隊士氣。後來為了增加國庫黃金儲量，阮朝的明命帝打算減少賞賜時消耗的黃金，於是在公元1931年，便專門設計了用於賞賜用的金錢、銀錢和賞賜功牌，自此之後賞賜有功者特製錢幣的習慣就變成了阮朝的傳統。

儘管在阮朝統治越南以前，當地可能就有類似歐洲的獎章制度卻苦於缺乏確切紀錄。直到公元1840年，法國人抵達越南後，歐洲人才首次記載阮朝在順化的宮廷中，有一套類似西方的獎章獎勵機制。從金屬材質就能大致判斷「錢」的等級，最高等的「金錢(Kim Tien)」有四級，在阮朝早期以真金製成，到後期逐漸改為鍍金或基本金屬。次一等的「銀錢(Ngan Tien)」，有些效法歐洲標明等級差異外，更多的「銀錢」僅有標示皇帝年號。