Item number: A3101

Year: AD 1470-1497

Material: Copper

Size: 23.8 x 23.6 x 1.0 mm

Weight: 3.65 g

Manufactured by: Đông Kinh Mint

Provenance: Spink 2023

This is a coin minted and circulated during the Hồng Đức era (AD 1470–1497) under the reign of Emperor Lê Thánh Tông of the Later Lê dynasty, whose personal name was Lê Tư Thành. The coin, known as “Hồng Đức Thông Bảo”, is made of reddish copper.

The coin follows the traditional Chinese cultural sphere format of a round coin with a square central hole. On the obverse, the inscription “Hồng Đức Thông Bảo” is rendered in regular script, arranged from top to bottom and right to left. The upper-right component of the character “Thông” is written with the “マ” radical; its “辶” radical has a single dot on the left and ends with a flat-stroke press. The calligraphy is relatively thick and widely spaced, the character field is recessed, and all four characters connect to the inner rim and outer border. The inner rim of the coin is relatively broad, and the coin field surrounding the square hole is slightly raised.

Lê Thánh Tông held the view that “the value of currency lies in its smooth circulation among all levels of society” and emphasised the importance of coin quality. He centralised the authority over coinage, thereby eliminating the longstanding issue of uncontrolled and poor-quality minting. Coins were issued periodically to ensure stable monetary supply. Compared with coinage from other historical periods, the Quang Thuận and Hồng Đức coins were heavier and exhibited superior craftsmanship. The Vietnamese historian Phan Huy Chú praised them, stating that “the coins of the Hồng Đức and Quang Thuận periods most closely followed the Tang dynasty standard; others were generally too light and thin, hence their inefficacy in circulation.”

In AD 1428, Lê Lợi overthrew Ming occupation and declared himself emperor, founding the Later Lê dynasty as Lê Thái Tổ. The early regime implemented a centralised administrative structure modelled after the Ming system, establishing six ministries and a censorate. The dynasty reached its zenith under its fifth emperor, Lê Thánh Tông (r. AD 1460–1497), regarded as one of the most accomplished rulers in both civil and military affairs. He enacted political reforms, revised the “Hồng Đức Code”, promoted Confucian learning and civil service examinations, established the Quốc Tử Giám (Imperial Academy), and expanded national territory while stabilising frontier regions. His reign, referred to as the “Governance of Hồng Đức”, is widely considered a golden age of prosperity and effective governance in Vietnam’s feudal era, marked by strong centralisation and flourishing scholarship.

In the fifth year of the Xianfeng reign (AD 1855), Chen Kai of the Triad Society revolted in Guangxi in coordination with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, attacking Qing forces and establishing the so-called Kingdom of Great Virtue (Đại Thành Quốc), in which he proclaimed himself the Hồng Đức King and adopted “Hồng Đức” as his reign title. As a result, Vietnamese Hồng Đức Thông Bảo coins are often mistakenly attributed to this regime. Authentic coinage of the Đại Thành Kingdom is extremely rare; however, surviving specimens of “Bình Tĩnh Thắng Bảo”, issued by Li Văn Mậu, the kingdom’s Prince of Bình Tĩnh, reveal inferior minting quality with diffuse and indistinct strokes, distinctly different from the craftsmanship of the Vietnamese Hồng Đức Thông Bảo.

物件編號: A3101

年代: 公元 1470-1497 年

材質: 紅銅

尺寸: 23.8 x 23.6 x 1.0 mm

重量: 3.65 g

製造地: 東京鑄錢場

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是一枚由後黎聖宗黎思誠，於其年號洪德年間(公元1470-1497年)所鑄行的「洪德通寶」，紅銅質。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統之方孔圓錢。錢面錢文「洪德通寶」楷書，由上而下、由右至左對讀。「通」字右上寫為「マ」旁；「通」字「辶」旁左側單點，底捺平筆。字體較粗且較寬放，地章較深。四字接穿連輪。錢幕內廓較寬，錢穿四周地章微凸。

黎聖宗認為「泉貨之用，貴於上下流通」，同時也注重鑄幣的品質，將鑄幣權收歸中央，一掃歷代濫鑄亂象，定期鑄幣以保證貨弊供給。所鑄行之光順、洪德錢，與前後歷史時期鑄幣相比，均更重且工藝更佳。越南史家潘輝注以「洪德、光順錢尤近唐制，餘者多失輕薄，故行之不能無弊。」盛讚洪德、光順錢。

黎利於公元1428年推翻明朝占領後稱帝，創後黎朝，是為黎太祖。初期實行集權體制，政治制度仿效明朝，設有六部與都察院。國力在第五位皇帝黎聖宗(公元1460-1497年在位)時達到頂峰。黎聖宗原名黎思誠，又名黎灝，是最具文治武功的君主之一。他整頓政治，修訂《洪德法典》，推行科舉與儒學，設立國子監，並積極擴張領土、平定邊疆，開創經濟發展與社會穩定的「洪德之治」，被視為越南封建時代的盛世典範。此時朝廷中央集權鞏固，文化與學術蓬勃發展。黎聖宗死後，後黎朝逐漸衰敗，最終為西山朝所取代。

咸豐五年(公元1855年)，三合會陳開呼應太平天國，於廣西起義，攻擊清軍，建大成國，稱洪德王，年號洪德。故常誤認越南洪德通寶為大成國洪德通寶。大成國洪德通寶實物罕見，但觀大成國平靖王李文茂鑄行之平靖勝寶，知其鑄幣工藝不佳，筆劃渙散，不類此幣。