A GROUP OF 51 PORCELAIN COINS

Estimated Value:

1.500 € - 2.500 €

Result:

incl. Premium and VAT

Description:

Thailand, for the Chinese market, 19th c
div.
Glazed porcelain, partly embossed, partly inscribed underglaze. Case. These coins were tokens, used by the Chinese aristocracy mainly for domino-like games (fantan) in Siam. The owners of gambling casinos exchanged these tokens for normal money. The coins were particularly popular during the reign of Rama III (1824-1851). Later editions came into circulation as normal means of payment, but there were many counterfeits. In 1875, the authorities officially banned the coins, but they continued to be collected and accepted as money in merchandise transactions in the districts around the casinos.
Old German private collection since the 1950s, acquired by the previous owner in Dresden in 1927, letter accompanying the acquisition available, old manuscript with descriptions
Cf. Henry Alexander Ramsden (1872-1915), Siamese Porcelain and other Token, published in 1911 or Kultur-gutmuseum Duisburg - Traces of age

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