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1 Văn - Lập Nguyên Unofficial coin
| Issuer | Empire of Vietnam |
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| Year | |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Central square perforation surrounded by a raised square rim, with four Chinese characters arranged in cruciform fashion around the central hole, reading top to bottom and right to left. The legend reads Lập Nguyên Thông Bảo (立元通寶), cast in relief within the coin's flat field. The outer rim is rounded and plain, consistent with traditional Vietnamese cast cash coin style. The characters are rendered in a somewhat irregular, artisanal hand typical of unofficially cast issues. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Lập Nguyên coinage dates to the fleeting August 1945 government of Trần Trọng Kim, Vietnam's first nominally independent cabinet under Emperor Bảo Đại following the Japanese ouster of French colonial administration. The regime lasted roughly five months before Hồ Chí Minh's Việt Minh seized power in the August Revolution. Coins of this period occupy an ambiguous position — produced outside the formal French Indochinese monetary apparatus, their unofficial status means striking quality and alloy consistency were never standardized.
Zinc was the only practical option; wartime Japan had long stripped the region of copper and other nonferrous metals for military production.