Egg Yolk and Chicken Blood by JAA USA/Philippines Collection

[CSJournals-migration]

My feature Primitive Money for Thursday April 19 is the thirteenth to the sixteenth century "Domed Ngon Hoi" of the Kingdom of Lannatai(present day Thailand).

 

Ngon Hoi were the earliest coinage of South East Asia. Flat Ngon Hoi were the only form of metallic money in use in South East Asia at a time when no such thing as national borders existed. By the thirteenth the century Flat Ngon Hoi had evolved into a dome shaped piece of silver or silver alloy. Domed Ngon Hoi formed the subsidiary coinage of the Kingdom of Lannatai (present day Thailand) from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries. It is possible that production continued beyound that period for use as temple offerings or marriage payments.

 

Several subtypes of domed Ngon Hoi exist and each can be attributed to a particular region or city. An interesting characteristic of some of the subtypes is a hard, enamel like encrustation, or stain whose color is varying shades of brown. Historically these surface encrustations have been attributed to the molten silver or alloy having been poured onto the yolk of an egg and the blood of a chicken during the process of manufacture.

 

The domed Ngon Hoi in the attached picture is one of the most interesting and attractive specimens of primitive money in my collection. I purchased it from a local coin shop over 50 years ago. When I purchased it the coin dealer identified the piece as "Siamese Egg Yolk Money". It is made of silver or silver alloy and is 1.75 inch in diameter and has a weight of 76 grams. The yellow/brown encrustation is on the domed upper surface. The lower surface is concave and has no encrustation or stain. There is a single perforation which may have been used to string the pieces together for carrying or wearing.

 

REFERENCES:

"Early Coinage of South East Asia" by Oliver Cresswell

 

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