Catalog
1 Pe - Heart-Flower
| Issuer | Cambodia |
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| Year | 1604-1830 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Central device consisting of a stylized heart-flower (lotus seed pod) motif in low relief, occupying the majority of the flan. The design depicts a broad, heart-shaped base from which radiate multiple upward-pointing petals or sepals, rendered in a primitive yet distinctive hammered style. The surrounding field is flat and unadorned, with the irregular flan characteristic of hand-struck billon coinage. No legend or inscription is present. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Entirely plain reverse with no design, legend, or decorative element. The flat field bears only the incuse marks and surface irregularities consistent with anvil contact during the hammering process. Light scratches and flow lines are visible across the flan, typical of the rudimentary production methods employed for this series of small-denomination Cambodian billon coinage. |
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| Additional information |
These anonymous bullet-shaped billon pieces, produced by pouring molten alloy into molds rather than striking between dies, circulated across the Khmer kingdom for over two centuries with virtually no change in type. The "Heart-Flower" designation refers to a catalog classification, not a mint distinction — the Cambodian royal treasury issued them in bulk without systematic dating, making precise attribution within the 1604–1830 window essentially impossible without hoard provenance.
French colonial administrators who encountered them in the nineteenth century initially struggled to assign them any fixed value, as local exchange rates had long been negotiated by weight rather than denomination.