Item number: A3061

Year: AD 1379

Material: Bronze

Size: 20.1 x 20.1 x 0.4 mm

Weight: 1.35 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This is a bronze coin issued under the name of “Hy Nguyên Thông Bảo,” cast and circulated by the rebel leader Nguyễn Bổ during the third year of Emperor Trần Phế Đế’s Chương Phù reign, corresponding to AD 1379, when Nguyễn Bổ allegedly proclaimed the Hy Nguyên reign title. Other coins reportedly cast by the same authority include “Tống Nguyên Thông Bảo” and “Cảnh Nguyên Thông Bảo.” However, some scholars believe the “Hy Nguyên Thông Bảo” was privately minted in AD 1781–1782 by a different individual, Nguyễn Hi Nguyên, while others argue that the inscription is merely a misappropriation or imitation of the Northern Song emperor Shenzong’s coinage “Xining Yuanbao” (“熙寧元寶”).

The coin conforms to the traditional East Asian form of a round coin with a square central hole. The obverse inscription reads “Hy Nguyên Thông Bảo,” in which “Hy” and “Thông” are written in regular script, and “Nguyên” and “Bảo” in seal script. The inscription is read vertically from top to bottom and from right to left. The characters are relatively large. The character “Hy” includes an added leftward stroke and appears in the variant form “熈,” with the “𦣞” radical rendered as “目.” The character “Thông” is worn and unclear at the top; the left radical (辶) replaces the typical dot and angular stroke with a continuous series of three dots written as a single fluid stroke. In “Nguyên,” the two lower strokes (legs) are connected to the horizontal stroke at two points—centrally and on the left. The character “Bảo” features a lengthened “宀” radical, with both ends extending downward, a form known as the “long-roof Bảo,” and its lower strokes are separated. The calligraphy closely resembles that of the “An Pháp Nguyên Bảo” type. The character “Bảo” is connected to the central hole, while “Nguyên,” “Thông,” and “Bảo” are joined to the outer rim. The outer rim is slightly broader than that of the “Tống Nguyên Thông Bảo” and “Cảnh Nguyên Thông Bảo” coins. The reverse lacks any rim or border and is entirely plain and uninscribed.

This type of coin, bearing the inscription “Hy Nguyên Thông Bảo,” was first catalogued in AD 1882 by the renowned archaeologist Eduardo Toda y Güell, then serving as the Spanish Vice-Consul in Macau. In his work Annam and Its Minor Currency, published in Shanghai following his travels in East Asia, Toda posited that the coin was privately minted by Nguyễn Hi Nguyên between AD 1781 and 1782, likely due to a misreading of historical text that states, “…the rebels in Bắc Giang were led by a man named Nguyễn, who for eight months proclaimed himself king under the name Hy Nguyên… By early 1382, Hy Nguyên disappeared from history.” Subsequently, this coin type has been included in various numismatic catalogues and coin atlases by French and Japanese scholars. In Tōa Senshi, Japanese numismatist Oda Hirayasu noted that among the “Hy Nguyên Thông Bảo” coins, only those with larger diameter, broader rim, and lozenge-shaped “Thông” radicals should be attributed to Nguyễn Bổ, while the remainder are private issues.

Vietnamese historian Tạ Chí Đại Trường pointed out that according to extant historical sources such as the Đại Việt Sử Ký Toàn Thư, there is no record of Nguyễn Bổ declaring a reign title. He argued that the style of “Hy Nguyên Thông Bảo” coins differs significantly from coinage of the late Trần dynasty and may therefore represent a later private casting, typical of many imitation coins that combine elements of coin inscriptions from the Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties.

In Japanese numismatic works such as An Introduction to Cast Coins: A Study of Hand-Classified Coins, coins whose origin could not be definitively established were classified into “hand categories” based on inscription, material, and shape. Among them, the “Hy Nguyên Thông Bảo,” “Tống Nguyên Thông Bảo,” and “Cảnh Nguyên Thông Bảo” types were grouped under the category “Hy Nguyên hand.” However, among the coins bearing the inscription “Hy Nguyên Thông Bảo,” there also exists a stylistic variant known as the “An Pháp type,” whose design closely resembles that of the “An Pháp Thông Bảo.”

In the third year of the Chương Phù reign under Emperor Trần Phế Đế, severe summer droughts and resulting famine struck the region, exacerbated by the ongoing wars between Đại Việt and Champa, which depleted the state treasury. In response to fiscal shortfalls, minister Trần Đình Trác imposed a head tax, provoking widespread resentment. A man named Nguyễn Bổ from the Bắc Giang region seized the opportunity to rebel. Styling himself “Tang Lang in purple robes,” he employed sorcery to attract followers and proclaimed himself king under the alleged reign title Hy Nguyên. The precise meaning of “Tang Lang in purple robes” remains unclear, although it is known that the imperial family conferred purple garments to Buddhist and Daoist clerics beginning in the Tang dynasty. Nguyễn Bổ’s uprising was swiftly suppressed.

Emperor Trần Phế Đế, personal name Trần Hiện and recorded as Trần Nhật Quý in the History of the Ming, was the eleventh ruler of the Trần dynasty in Vietnam. He was the son of Emperor Trần Nghệ Tông and was enthroned in AD 1377 by his uncle, the Retired Emperor Trần Nghệ Tông, at the age of twelve. In reality, the court was dominated by Trần Nghệ Tông and his favoured kinsman, Hồ Quý Ly. The young emperor’s accession took place amid profound national crises. Earlier that same year, his father was killed during a campaign against Champa, leaving the state in mourning and the government in disarray. Meanwhile, Chế Bồng Nga, the king of Champa, launched repeated invasions into Đại Việt, threatening the kingdom’s borders. Although Trần Hiện held the throne in name, he remained trapped in the maelstrom of court factionalism and shifting power dynamics. Hồ Quý Ly gradually consolidated control over military and civil affairs, implementing reforms such as military restructuring, fiscal adjustments, and the centralisation of power. These measures weakened the traditional aristocracy and reinforced his own position but also deepened tensions among court nobles, the royal clan, and the rising class of military bureaucrats. In AD 1388, Hồ Quý Ly staged a palace coup, accusing the emperor of incompetence and immorality, forcibly deposing and later executing him. Trần Phế Đế received no temple name posthumously and is referred to in historical records as either the “Deposed Emperor” or the “Young Emperor.” Hồ Quý Ly subsequently deposed and installed both Emperor Trần Thuận Tông and Emperor Trần Thiếu Đế in succession, before declaring himself emperor in AD 1400 and founding the Hồ dynasty.

物件編號: A3061

年代: 公元 1379 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 20.1 x 20.1 x 0.4 mm

重量: 1.35 g

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是一枚由陳廢帝昌符三年(公元1379年)起事領袖阮補，於年號熙元元年所鑄行之「熙元通寶」，青銅質。另鑄有「宋元通寶」、「景元通寶」錢。另有學者認為其為公元1781-1782年間由阮熙元(Nguyễn Hi Nguyên)私鑄，也有學者認為，「熙元通寶」只是對北宋神宗「熙寧元寶」的混用及倣鑄品。

錢幣形制為漢文化圈傳統之方孔圓錢。錢面錢文「熙元通寶」，「熙、通」為楷書，「元、寶」為篆書，由上而下、由右至左對讀，字體較大。「熙」字左加一撇，寫為「熈」，「𦣞」旁寫作「目」；「通」字自首漫漶，「辶」旁左側點與折筆改寫為連筆的三點；「元」二足與橫劃中央和左側有兩處相連；「寶」字「宀」旁左右末端向下拉長，稱「長蓋寶」，雙足分開。字體與「安法元寶」頗有相似之處。「寶」字接穿，「元、通、寶」連輪，外輪較「宋元通寶」、「景元通寶」錢稍寬。錢幕無輪無廓，光素無文。

該「熙元通寶」錢幣初次入譜當為公元1882年，由著名的考古學家，時任西班牙駐澳門副領事的愛德華多·托達·伊·古埃爾(Eduardo Toda y Güell)，於遊歷東亞後，於上海出版之《安南及其小額貨幣》(Annam and its Minor Currency)。認為「熙元通寶」是於公元1781-1782年間由阮熙元(Nguyễn Hi Nguyên)私鑄者，大概是對文中段落的誤讀：｢…(北江的)叛軍由阮所領導，其於八個月間以熙元的名字自立為王…公元1382年初，『熙元』消失在歷史上｣。此後於法人、日人學者等之圖鑑與錢譜中也時有收錄。奧平昌洪於《東亞錢志》中認為，「熙元通寶」中只有一種幣徑更大，外輪更寬，「通」字右上呈菱形者為阮補鑄幣，其餘為私鑄。越南歷史學家謝志大長(Tạ Chí Đại Trường)則指出，自《大越史記全書》等史料來看，沒有任何阮補所建年號為何的史料敘述。「熙元通寶」風格與陳朝末年鑄幣頗有區別，可能為來自更晚時間點的私鑄幣，只是像許多私鑄幣一樣，拼湊宋、明、清的年號錢文以鑄錢。

於日人錢譜，如《穴銭入門 手類銭考》中，將難以詳考的品類按書寫、材質、形制而歸納為各「手類」，其中便將「熙元通寶」、「宋元通寶」、「景元通寶」多品皆歸入「熙元手」。然而錢文「熙元通寶」者，另有風格近安法通寶的「安法手」。

陳廢帝昌符三年，「夏旱，大饑」，加以連年的越南-占婆戰爭，國庫枯竭，陳廷增收人頭稅，引發不滿。北江路人阮補(Nguyễn Bổ)乘時起事，自稱唐郎紫衣，以法術惑人，僭號稱王，據稱建號熙元。「唐郎紫衣」具體涵義不明，惟帝室賜僧、道服紫，確實自中國唐代始。不久，阮補被討平。

陳廢帝，名陳晛(Trần Hiện)，《明史》作陳日煒，為越南陳朝第十一位皇帝，是陳睿宗之子，於公元1377年由其伯，太上皇陳藝宗所立，時年僅十二歲，實際朝政仍由藝宗及其寵信的外戚胡季犛(Hồ Quý Ly)控制。陳廢帝即位背景與大越面臨的多重危機密切相關：該年稍早，睿宗親征占城戰死，國喪未定，朝廷內部已陷於混亂，而外有占王制蓬峩頻繁北侵，對國家邊防構成嚴重威脅。陳廢帝名義上繼承皇位，實則身處政治鬥爭與權力轉移的風暴中心。胡季犛逐漸掌控軍政大權，並推行一系列改革措施，包括軍隊整編、財政調整與中央集權化，對削弱舊貴族勢力與鞏固自身地位頗有成效，然而也使政局更陷入由宮廷貴族、宗室與新興軍事官僚三方角力的惡性循環。至公元1388年，胡季犛發動宮廷政變，指控皇帝「無能失德」，強行廢黜之，幽禁後殺害。陳廢帝被廢後未得廟號，史籍多稱其為「廢帝」或「幼主」。隨後胡季犛更先後廢立陳順宗(Trần Thuận Tông)、陳少帝(Trần Thiếu Đế)。最終，胡季犛於公元1400年自立為帝，建立胡朝(Hồ dynasty)。