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4 Tiền - Tự Đức
| Issuer | Empire of Vietnam |
|---|---|
| Year | 1848-1883 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | KM#448 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Chinese |
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| Reverse description | Central square hole flanked by four large Chữ Nôm characters arranged in the four cardinal positions, reading 'Sử Dân Phú Thọ' (使民富壽), a auspicious phrase meaning 'to make the people prosperous and long-lived.' The characters are deeply and boldly cast in high relief within the flat field, surrounded by a raised rim consistent with the obverse. |
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| Additional information |
Tự Đức reigned during the most turbulent decades of nineteenth-century Vietnam, presiding over French military incursions beginning in 1858 and ultimately ceding Cochinchina by 1862. His court continued striking silver cash-denomination pieces throughout, partly as an assertion of imperial fiscal authority against increasing French encroachment. The 4 Tiền sat near the top of the everyday silver denomination structure and circulated alongside the chaotic mix of Chinese, French, and indigenous coinage that characterized the period.
Tự Đức died in 1883 without a direct heir, triggering a succession crisis so severe that three emperors followed within four months — effectively ending independent Vietnamese monetary production under this series.