See full images — free registration
Continue with Google — it's free or register with email

1 Baht - Rama I

Issuer Thailand
Year 1785-1809
Type Standard circulation coin
Value Log in to see details
Currency Log in to see details
Composition Log in to see details
Weight Log in to see details
Diameter Log in to see details
Thickness Log in to see details
Shape Log in to see details
Technique Log in to see details
Orientation Log in to see details
Engraver(s) Log in to see details
In circulation to Log in to see details
Reference(s) Log in to see details
Obverse description Impressed on the flattened underside of the bullet-shaped silver planchet, the Unalom symbol — a stylized sacred spiral representing the topknot of the Buddha — appears in relief within a recessed punch mark. The design is characteristic of Siamese pot duang coinage, struck by hand with a die applied to the soft surface of the folded metal. The field surrounding the symbol is irregular and uneven, consistent with the hammered bullet coin technique.
Obverse script Log in to see details
Obverse lettering Log in to see details
Reverse description Log in to see details
Reverse script Log in to see details
Reverse lettering Log in to see details
Edge Log in to see details
Mint Log in to see details
Mintage ND (1785-1809) - Unalom - Chakra (clockwise) -
ND (1785-1809) - Unalom - Chakra (counter-clockwise) -
Additional information

Bullet coinage of this type — tical in the Thai monetary tradition — was produced by hand, with each piece formed by hammering a roughly spherical silver blank and then applying countermarks. No two are identical in shape. Rama I, who founded the Chakri dynasty in 1782 after the fall of Ayutthaya and the chaos of the Thonburi interregnum, inherited a monetary system that had operated on these same hammered forms for centuries and saw no reason to abandon it.

The dynasty's countermarks on this series authenticated royal silver at a moment when Siam was aggressively rebuilding trade networks with China and regional neighbors. That commercial urgency made consistent silver weight — not consistent form — the priority.