Reference
Note:
HCR 58965 is towards the lower end of the size (22.3mm) and weight (2.02g) distribution for Hartill’s (GCC, p. 99) sample of Vietnamese unofficial coins resembling Northern Song Coins. The low weight is unsurprising in view of the high zinc content which is evident from the whitish corrosion products.
The coin is a copy of a seal script Sheng Song Yuan Bao coin of Emperor Hui Zong (1101-1125) (cf Hartill CCC, p. 148, Figs 16.354-360). However the 聖 has been simplified slightly. Hartill (GCC, p. 103) has provided data from the Zeno database showing that these coins are typically composed of about 50% zinc. Hartill assigns them to his category of ‘Large Copper – Distinct Calligraphy. Group 4. (“Zinc Alloy”)’. Given the use of zinc and the appearance of this coin legend in the Kokon Senka Kagami of 1798, a conservative date range of c. 1550 – c. 1790 has provisionally been assigned to this coin.
