Item number: A2979

Year: ND

Material: Bronze

Size: 21.9 x 22.1 x 0.5 mm

Weight: 2.0 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This is a Vietnamese coin of unknown date of issue. Due to the country’s frequent historical periods of political fragmentation, and even during times of dynastic unification, regional warlords and local elites often engaged in the independent minting of currency. Within this socio-political context, numerous coins emerged that cannot be correlated with any officially recognised reign title. Such coins are referred to in numismatic scholarship as “uncatalogued coins” (脫譜錢), denoting currency that falls outside the established historical and administrative records.

The coin follows the traditional Chinese-influenced square-holed cash coin design and is made of bronze. On the obverse, the four Chinese characters “Kiền Phù Nguyên Bảo” (乾符元寶) are engraved in regular script, arranged in a clockwise sequence. The reverse is plain, with no inscriptions or decorative motifs.

None of the dynasties in Vietnamese history ever adopted “Qianfu” (乾符) as an official reign title. However, between AD 874 and 879, the Tang dynasty in China, under Emperor Xizong, used “Qianfu” as an era name. Given Vietnam’s strong cultural and institutional influence from its northern neighbour, Vietnamese coinage frequently imitated the coin designs and inscriptions of Chinese dynasties—particularly those of the Tang, Song, and Ming periods, whose reign titles were often appropriated or replicated in form, style, or symbolism.

物件編號: A2979

年代: 不明

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 21.9 x 22.1 x 0.5 mm

重量: 2.0 g

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是一枚發行年代不明的越南錢幣，由於越南歷史上多次陷入分裂，即便是統一的王朝時期，地方上的豪強也經常有自行鑄幣的現象。在這樣的社會背景下，出現許多沒辦法跟統治者年號對應的錢幣，這些錢幣被稱為「脫譜錢」。

錢幣形制為深受中國影響的方孔錢，材質為青銅。錢幣正面按照順時針的順序，依序以楷書漢字書法鐫刻「乾符元寶」四字。錢幣背面為光背，沒有任何圖案或文字。

越南的各個王朝並未使用過「乾符」作為年號。不過公元874至879年，中國唐代晚期的唐僖宗曾經使用過「乾符」該年號。越南在文化上深受北方的中國影響，其鑄造的錢幣經常會模仿中國王朝，尤其是唐、宋和明，這三個朝代使用的年號。