Item number: A3076

Year: AD 1926-1933

Material: Copper

Size: 23.7 x 23.7 x 1.0 mm

Weight: 3.45 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This is a copper coin issued by Emperor Bảo Đại during the first to eighth years of his reign (AD 1926–1933), inscribed as “Bảo Đại Thông Bảo”. Its legal weight was nine phân, equivalent to approximately 3.276 grams in modern measurements. A weight of 3.45 grams would correspond to nine phân and two ly under the contemporary Đại Nam system of measurement, which remains within an acceptable margin of error.

The coin follows the traditional East Asian form of a round coin with a square central hole. The obverse inscription “Bảo Đại Thông Bảo” is written in regular script, arranged vertically and read from top to bottom, right to left. In the character “Thông”, the upper-right component is the radical “マ”, while the “辶” radical is written with a dot and a vertical stroke on the left, followed by a curved sweeping stroke at the bottom. The coin surface is plain and unadorned. The outer rim and inner border are both wider than the inscribed face. There is a trace of repair or patching near the lower left corner of the central hole.

In AD 1926, Crown Prince Nguyễn Vĩnh Thụy, who was studying in France, ascended the throne as Emperor Bảo Đại following the death of Emperor Khải Định. He soon returned to France to continue his education. During this period, the Ministry of Finance reversed the mechanised minting system implemented under Khải Định, reinstating the traditional hand-struck method. Under the old system, one small flat coin weighing nine phân could be exchanged for six white-lead coins, while a small flat coin weighing six phân could be exchanged for four white-lead coins.

Bảo Đại, whose original name was Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy, was the last emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty. He ascended the throne in AD 1925 after the death of Emperor Khải Định at the age of twelve, and a formal enthronement ceremony was held the following year. He adopted the reign title Bảo Đại and became the nominal ruler, with real political power held by a regency council led by Minister of Personnel Nguyễn Hữu Bài. Educated in France in a Western style, Bảo Đại returned to Vietnam in AD 1933 and attempted to implement reforms, though these efforts were hampered by both the colonial French administration and entrenched conservative forces. During the Second World War, Vietnam entered a period of upheaval, as Japanese forces supplanted French control. In March AD 1945, Japan launched the coup d’état known as the “March 9 Incident”, dismantling the French Indochinese Federation. Bảo Đại declared Vietnam “independent”, established a nominal government, assumed the title “Emperor of Vietnam”, and aligned with the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. In August of the same year, the revolution led by the Việt Minh succeeded. Bảo Đại abdicated in Huế, handing over the imperial seal and sword to the government led by Hồ Chí Minh, marking the end of the Nguyễn dynasty. After his abdication, Bảo Đại was reinstated by the French in AD 1949 as the head of the State of Vietnam. Following the Geneva Accords in AD 1954, Ngô Đình Diệm assumed leadership of South Vietnam, and Bảo Đại withdrew to France, where he spent the remainder of his life in exile.

物件編號: A3076

年代: 公元 1926-1933 年

材質: 紅銅

尺寸: 23.7 x 23.7 x 1.0 mm

重量: 3.45 g

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是一枚由保大帝於年號保大元年至保大八年間(公元1926-1933年)，所發行之「保大通寶」，銅質。法重九分，約合今3.276公克。3.45公克則約合當時大南度制九分二厘，尚於誤差值內。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統之方孔圓錢。錢面錢文「保大通寶」楷書，由上而下、由右至左對讀。「通」字右上為「マ」旁；「通」字「辶」旁左側點並折筆寫為點與一豎，底捺曲筆。錢幕光素無文，外輪內廓皆較錢面寬，錢穿左下有一綴補之痕跡。

公元1926年，留學法國的皇太子阮永瑞登基為保大帝後，旋返回法國繼續學業。戶部則將前任啟定帝時已實行的機製幣制改回舊製手打。舊制一枚重九分小平錢可兌六文白鉛錢，重六分小平錢可兌四文白鉛錢。

保大帝原名阮福永瑞(Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy)，是阮朝最後一位皇帝，公元1925年啟定帝去世後繼位，年僅十二歲，次年舉行登基典禮，年號保大，成為名義上的統治者。由於年幼，朝政實由輔政大臣團掌握，其中以吏部尚書阮有排為首。保大自幼在法國受西式教育，公元1933年歸國親政後試圖推動改革，但受限於法國殖民體制及傳統保守勢力牽制，成效不彰。二戰期間，越南局勢動盪，日本勢力取代法國成為實質控制者，公元1945年3月日本發動三九政變，推翻法屬印支聯邦，保大宣佈越南「獨立」，成立名義上的政府，稱自己為「越南皇帝」，並加入大東亞共榮圈。同年八月，越盟領導的革命成功，保大於順化退位，將象徵皇權的璽劍交予代表新政權的胡志明政府，阮朝自此結束。退位後的保大曾於公元1949年被法國扶植為「越南國」首腦，公元1954年日內瓦協定後南越政權改由吳廷琰接掌，保大退居法國，終老異鄉。