1 Tamlueng Northern Kingdoms

The tamlueng was the dominant weight unit in the Northern Thai kingdoms — particularly Lan Na, centered at Chiang Mai after its founding in 1296 — and silver coinage of this period circulated as weighed bullion rather than struck money in the European sense. These pieces functioned within a system where value was confirmed on the scale, not by die. Lan Na maintained considerable monetary independence from the Siamese kingdoms to the south throughout this period, a separation that ended only with the Burmese conquest of Chiang Mai in 1558.