10 Satang - Rama IX 4th portrait

Thailand's aluminium 10 satang has been functionally obsolete for decades — purchasing power so negligible that it rarely enters everyday transactions — yet the Royal Thai Mint continued striking these through 2017 primarily to satisfy legal tender requirements and vending machine calibration standards. The 4th portrait series, introduced to mark a distinct phase of Bhumibol Adulyadej's reign, ran across multiple denominations with consistent design discipline across the set.

Aluminium blanks for Thai coinage during this period were sourced under procurement contracts that changed several times, occasionally producing subtle differences in surface texture between years within the same type.