Catalog
Luang Pu Tho, Paper Banknote Amulet
| Issuer | Thailand |
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| Year | |
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| Size | 155 × 80 mm |
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| Obverse description | The central vignette presents a sculpted portrait of Luang Pu Toh (Phra Rajsangwornbhimon, d. 1682), flanked on one side by an oval portrait of King Rama V and on the other by an oval vignette of a mythical figure. The denomination 100 is rendered in both Thai script and Latin numerals, integrated into the overall decorative layout of the note. |
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| Reverse description | The central vignette of the reverse presents King Rama IX in the company of a monk, encircled by eight small roundels each containing a portrait of a seated monk in meditation posture. A lower vignette of an architectural gateway is accompanied by a Thai inscription identifying it as Pratu Chumphor, the Chumphor Gate of Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), and a figure of Thao Suranari, the celebrated heroine of Korat, also appears on this side. |
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| Comments |
These are not legal tender and were never issued by the Bank of Thailand. Luang Pu Tho Sirimethano, the revered abbot of Wat Pak Nam Bhasicharoen, became one of the most commercially reproduced figures in the Thai amulet trade following his death in 1994 — his image has appeared on votive objects ranging from coins to precisely these banknote-format paper pieces, produced by temples, private foundations, and commercial vendors alike. Provenance and temple affiliation matter enormously to collectors in this niche.