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1 Cash - Cảnh Hưng Thông Bảo, Seal script, with crescent
| Issuer | Empire of Vietnam |
|---|---|
| Year | 1740-1786 |
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| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round with a square hole |
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| Obverse description | Central square hole flanked by four Chinese seal-script characters arranged in cruciform order, reading top to bottom and right to left: 景 (Cảnh), 興 (Hưng), 通 (Thông), 寶 (Bảo). The legend, translating as 'Cảnh Hưng Universal Currency,' references the reign era of Lê Hiển Tông (1740–1786). Characters are boldly rendered in the seal script (篆書) style within an open field, bounded by a plain inner rim and a raised outer rim. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Plain reverse featuring a central square hole surrounded by a raised inner rim and a wider raised outer rim. Two pairs of inward-facing crescents are positioned symmetrically in the left and right fields between the inner and outer rims, a distinguishing mark for this variety. The intervening field is otherwise blank. |
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| Additional information |
Cảnh Hưng was the longest-reigning emperor of the Later Lê dynasty, nominally on the throne from 1740 to 1786, though real power throughout that period was contested between the Trịnh lords in the north and the Nguyễn lords in the south. The imperial mint operated under Trịnh control, meaning these cash coins were effectively instruments of a regency government — the emperor's name on the copper, someone else's hand on the minting.
The crescent mark distinguishes this variety from the standard issue, likely indicating a specific foundry batch or supervisory mint. Toda's sequencing places #104 among the more deliberately differentiated pieces of this reign's extensive cash coinage.