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 “Phúc Bình Nguyên Bảo” (福平元寶) are engraved in seal script, arranged in a clockwise sequence. The reverse is plain, with no inscriptions or decorative motifs.
The design style of the Phúc Bình Nguyên Bảo coin closely resembles that of the Zhiping Yuanbao, issued during the reign of Emperor Yingzong of the Northern Song dynasty (AD 1064–1067) in China. Based on this stylistic similarity, it is hypothesised that the coin may have been minted during the Lý dynasty period in Vietnamese history (AD 1009–1225).
