Catalog
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| Issuer | Empire of Vietnam |
|---|---|
| Year | 1848-1883 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central field displays a stylized radiant sun as a multi-petalled rosette with a raised central boss, encircled by a sinuous dragon rendered in relief. Four Chinese characters reading NHẤT LẠNG VIỆT TRUNG are positioned in the four quadrants around the central motif. The border repeats the overlapping cloud or wave scroll pattern found on the obverse, with a beaded outer rim, giving the coin a unified decorative composition. |
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| Reverse lettering | 一兩越中 |
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| Additional information |
Tự Đức reigned during the most turbulent decades of nineteenth-century Vietnamese history — French gunboats shelled Đà Nẵng in 1858, Saigon fell in 1859, and by 1862 the Nguyễn court had ceded three southern provinces by treaty. The imperial mint at Huế continued striking gold lang throughout this period, partly as a store of value for the court itself, as French monetary pressure steadily undermined the traditional cash-coin economy.
At 37.40 grams, this denomination was never a circulation piece. It functioned as a presentation gift, a reward to mandarins, and a vehicle for hoarding dynastic wealth — a role that explains the relatively high survival rate in choice condition.