Reference
Note:
Hartill (GCC, p. 146) included this Thánh Nguyên Thông Bảo coin among his category: ‘Small Copper – Distinct Calligraphy, Group 1. (“An Phap type”)’, with two variants having narrower (Fig. 2.856) or broader (Fig. 2.857) outer rims. HCR 58929-58932 belong to the narrow-rimmed variety. Hartill proposes (GCC, p. 143) that they were manufactured in North Vietnam under the Mạc between 1540 and 1590. This provisional dating has been followed here. However HCR 58933 appears to be a crude copy (sand moulded?) of the “An Phap type”coin. The obverse field is granular (as is the flat reverse) and there was insufficient metal in the mould to fill out the edges of the coin. The metal is yellowish and may be brass or some other pale alloy, rather than the conventional bronze of the original. Accordingly, the potential date range has been extended to 1800, given that the coin’s former owner, Kutsuki Masatsuna, died in 1802.
