My feature Primitive Money for Wednesday April 18 is Siamese Porcelain Coins.

Siamese Porcelain Coins were used in Siam (Thailand) between 1760 - 1875. They come in many shapes, sizes and designs. Siamese Porcelain Coins are actually gambling tokens that were made in China for use by the Chinese in private gambling houses in Sia, but were also used in the surrounding area as small change.

The gambling houses were "tax farms" where every year, or some say every three years, the government accepted bids for the right to operate the gambling monopoly for the next period. There were between 500 and 1,000 different firms called "hongs", that issued tokens. To reduce counterfeiting, issues were recalled frequently, and new pieces were issued to replace them. More than 10,000 different varieties are known. They were issued in denominations of from one Att to one Salung. It is believed that between 2,000 and 6,000 pieces of each design were minted.

In 1875 the government prohibited the circulation of the tokens to facilitate the circulation of the government's new flat metallic coinage. In 1907 the government prohibited gambling everywhere except Bangkok, and in 1917 it was prohibited there also.

I purchased the five Siamese Porcelain Coins in the attached photo over fifty years ago. They range in size from .25 inch to 1.25 inch in diameter. My favorites are the two smallest specimens. The tiney .5 inch diameter specimen in the center of the photograph is really beautiful. It has scalloped edges a blue border and features a red, yellow and green butterfly in flight. My other favorite is the round specimen with the red border, blue lettering, and green bird.

REFERENCES:

"Am Ethnographic Study of Traditional Money" by Charles Opitz

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