This is a large Flying Dragon type of the Minh Mạng Thông Bảo, produced in Annam (present-day Vietnam) in the fifteenth year of the Minh Mạng reign (AD 1834) and weighing approximately seven tiền.
The obverse features a sun motif at the centre, surrounded by the Chinese characters “明、命、通、寶”, read from top to bottom and right to left. The first two characters form the emperor’s reign title, Minh Mạng, while the latter two, “Thông Bảo” (通寶), form a designation used on Chinese coinage since the Tang dynasty, meaning “circulating currency”. The term was subsequently adopted elsewhere within the East Asian cultural sphere, including Vietnam, Korea and Japan. The reverse depicts a flying dragon, beneath which are the Chinese characters “十五” (fifteen), read from right to left. These indicate that the coin was struck in the fifteenth year of the Minh Mạng reign, corresponding to AD 1834.
From early times, gold and silver in Vietnam served primarily as currency by weight for large transactions and as means of payment in foreign trade, while among the general population they were more commonly held as stores of wealth. After the establishment of the Nguyễn dynasty, the court centralised the authority to issue coinage and developed a multi-metallic monetary system in which conventional cash coins, made of copper or zinc, circulated alongside precious-metal currency in the form of gold and silver ingots and coins.
In the thirteenth year of the Minh Mạng reign, the emperor ordered the Imperial Arsenal Mint to begin striking Flying Dragon silver coins at 70 per cent fineness, each weighing seven tiền. In the ninth month, 5,000 lượng of silver alloy of the same fineness were used to produce both large and small Flying Dragon types, which together formed the Nguyễn dynasty’s first series of silver coins. In the fourth month of the following year, their fineness was increased to 80 per cent.
Initially, the Flying Dragon coins were struck solely as presentation pieces to reward meritorious service, without an official exchange rate being established against copper cash. Shortly afterwards, on the recommendation of the Ministry of Revenue, an official valuation was introduced: the large Flying Dragon, weighing seven tiền, was valued at two mân, while the small type, weighing three tiền, was valued at one mân. Owing to the relatively low fineness of these silver coins, illicit imitations became increasingly widespread, some containing as little as 37.5 per cent silver. As a result, public confidence in the Flying Dragon coinage declined sharply, and production ultimately ceased in the sixteenth year of the Minh Mạng reign. Nevertheless, the Flying Dragon coins exerted a lasting influence, and it became customary for subsequent emperors to issue such coins on their accession to the throne.
Emperor Minh Mạng, Nguyễn Phúc Đảm, was the second emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam, reigning from AD 1820 to 1840. Intelligent, studious and diligent in affairs of state, he was a devoted adherent of Confucianism. As emperor, he reformed the administrative system, established the Cabinet and the Privy Council, and placed considerable emphasis on literary learning and military affairs.
His reign was also marked by frequent warfare and internal unrest, which repeatedly drew the imperial forces into campaigns across the country and severely disrupted the lives of the population. Nevertheless, the court benefited from the service of capable officials and military commanders, who not only suppressed domestic rebellions but also expanded the empire’s territorial reach. In dealing with Western powers, Minh Mạng pursued a restrictive policy characterised by stringent prohibitions on Christianity and limitations on foreign contact. Confident in the superiority of his own civilisation, he remained reluctant to engage extensively with foreign countries.
