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Vietnam
Kiền Nguyên Thông Bảo
越南
乾元通寶
Item number: A3005
Year: ND
Material: Bronze
Size: 22.6 x 22.6 x 0.7 mm
Weight: 2.3 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 Nguyên Thông Bảo” (乾元通寶) are inscribed in regular script, arranged in the sequence of top, bottom, right, and left. The reverse is plain, with no inscriptions or decorative motifs.
None of the dynasties in Vietnamese history ever adopted “Qianyuan” (乾元) as an official reign title. However, between AD 758 and 760, the Tang dynasty in China, under Emperor Suzong, used “Qianyuan” as an era name, and issued coins bearing the inscription Qianyuan Chungbao (乾元重寶). 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.