Item number: A3088

Year: AD 1868

Material: Brass

Size: 21.9 x 21.6 x 1.0 mm

Weight: 3.0 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This is a “Tự Đức Thông Bảo” coin, cast and issued in yellow brass during the reign of Emperor Tự Đức (Nguyễn Phúc Thì) of the Nguyễn dynasty, between AD 1847 and 1883. The official standard weight was six phân (approximately 2.184 grams today). This specimen weighs 3.0 grams, equivalent to approximately 8 phân 2 lí 4 hào in the contemporary Vietnamese system, and is likely attributable to the monetary reform of Tự Đức’s twenty-first year (AD 1868). Due to the fiscal crisis brought on by warfare during his reign, the value of currency underwent several adjustments.

The coin conforms to the traditional Chinese cultural sphere’s style of a round coin with a square central hole. The obverse bears the inscription “Tự Đức Thông Bảo” in regular script, read vertically from top to bottom and right to left. The central stroke of the character “Tự” is slightly curved. All four characters connect to the square hole and the surrounding rim. The area around the hole retains excess metal that was not filed down, and the reverse is plain and uninscribed.

By the Tự Đức era, white lead coins had become the de facto circulating currency, while brass coins served primarily as units of account. In the early years of his reign, one six-phân brass coin could be exchanged for two six-phân white lead coins. In AD 1856 (Tự Đức 9), following the French naval bombardment of Tourane (present-day Đà Nẵng), the government began seizing remaining wealth to fund military preparations. By AD 1858 (Tự Đức 11), amid increasing financial difficulties, the exchange rate was changed to one brass coin for three lead coins. In AD 1861 (Tự Đức 14), the court emulated the Qing dynasty’s Xianfeng monetary system and began issuing “Tự Đức Bảo Sao” notes, whose nominal value was approximately double their intrinsic worth. Coinage in both large and small formats was gradually reduced. In AD 1867 (Tự Đức 20), France seized the six southern provinces of Cochinchina. The following year, the exchange rate was again revised to one six-phân brass coin for four white lead coins. Newly minted brass coins of six phân were slightly increased in weight to compensate for the difference. Nonetheless, the continued depreciation of lead coinage remained an irreversible trend.

Emperor Tu Duc (Vua Tự Đức), personal name Nguyễn Phúc Thì, reigned from AD 1847 to 1883 as the fourth emperor of the Nguyen dynasty. His reign was marked by both internal and external crises. Domestically, he faced peasant uprisings, factional strife within the court, and persistent fiscal difficulties. Externally, French colonial encroachment steadily advanced, leading to the gradual erosion of Vietnam’s sovereignty. A staunch Confucianist, Tu Duc sought to reinforce dynastic legitimacy through the promulgation of the revised edition of the “Đại Nam Thực Lục” and reforms to the imperial examination system. However, his domestic and foreign policies ultimately failed to repel Western intrusion. Beginning with the French assault on Da Nang in AD 1858, Vietnam suffered successive military defeats. In AD 1862, the first Treaty of Saigon was signed, ceding the provinces of Gia Dinh, Dinh Tuong, and Bien Hoa to France and granting French rights to trade and propagate Christianity. By the signing of the second Treaty of Saigon in AD 1874, Vietnam formally recognised French sovereignty over Cochinchina. France subsequently intensified its intervention in northern and central Vietnam, effectively reducing the country to a protectorate. Chronically ill and without biological heirs, Tu Duc designated three adopted sons as successors during his lifetime. After his death, palace intrigues deepened, and the imperial administration rapidly collapsed.

物件編號: A3088

年代: 公元 1868 年

材質: 黃銅

尺寸: 21.9 x 21.6 x 1.0 mm

重量: 3.0 g

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是一枚公元1847至1883年間，阮朝嗣德帝阮福時，在位期間所鑄行的「嗣德通寶」，黃銅質。法重為六分，約合今2.184公克。此錢3.0公克，約合越南當時八分二厘四毫，應為嗣德二十一年(公元1868年)幣制改革之故。由於嗣德年間戰亂導致的財政危機，幣值多次改變。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統之方孔圓錢。錢面錢文「嗣德通寶」楷書，由上而下、由右至左對讀。「嗣」字中線微曲。四字均接穿連輪。錢穿餘銅未磨銼，錢幕光素無文。

阮朝至嗣德年間，白鉛錢已成為事實上主要的行用錢，銅錢則為計價單位。至嗣德初年，重六分銅錢一枚可兌重六分白鉛錢二枚。嗣德九年(公元1856年)，法艦炮擊土倫港(今峴港市)，政府開始搜刮餘財，整軍備戰。嗣德十一年(公元1858年)，由於財政困難，改重六分銅錢一枚可兌重六分白鉛錢三枚。嗣德十四年(公元1861年)，另倣清咸豐朝制度，鑄「嗣德寶鈔」，法值大約為法重的二倍，大小樣銅錢則大約逐漸減鑄。嗣德二十年(公元1867年)，法國強佔南圻六省。次年，改重六分銅錢一枚可兌重六分白鉛錢四枚，新鑄重六分銅錢並略微加重補償差價。但白鉛錢貶值仍為不變的趨勢。

嗣德帝(Vua Tự Đức)，名阮福時(Nguyễn Phúc Thì)，公元1847-1883年在位，為阮朝第四任皇帝。即位後面對內憂外患，一方面需應對國內農民起義、宮廷派系爭鬥與財政困窘，另一方面則遭遇法國殖民壓力節節逼近，導致越南逐步喪失自主權。嗣德帝以儒學自重，信奉綱常，試圖透過頒布嗣德正編《大南寔錄》與整肅科舉制度等政策來穩固王朝正統，然而其內政與外交措施未能有效應對西方入侵。自公元1858年法蘭西第二帝國進攻峴港起，越南軍事上節節敗退，最終於公元1862年簽訂第一次西貢條約，割讓嘉定、定祥、邊和三省，並允許法國通商傳教；至公元1874年第二次西貢條約簽訂，越南正式承認法國對南圻的統治權。法國亦藉此加深對北圻與中圻的干涉，導致越南事實上淪為保護國。嗣德帝一生多病，未有子嗣，在世時預立三位養子繼位，死後宮廷政爭激烈，朝政崩解。