Bullet coin brings $22,800
Among the non-Chinese rarities offered in Stack’s Bowers August Hong Kong sale was an extremely rare Thai commemorative pod duang, or bullet coin (C-193). The 303.72 g silver 20 baht…
Among the non-Chinese rarities offered in Stack’s Bowers August Hong Kong sale was an extremely rare Thai commemorative pod duang, or bullet coin (C-193).
The 303.72 g silver 20 baht piece, equivalent to 5 tamlung or 1/4 chang, had been struck in CS 1242 (1880) to mark the ceremonial cremation of King Chulalongkorn’s mother Somdet P’ra Deb Sirindhra, as well as to commemorate the monarch’s age.
It carries three stamps as is typical of contemporary Thai coins and medals. One is an elaborate chakra. A second shows the crown. The third is the mark Rampeui, the Queen Mother’s maiden name, with the date below. This is the only dated bullet coinage of the entire series from the Sukhothai period through the Rattanakosin period.
The piece bears some historic light handling marks but otherwise has a delightful blue sheen. Graded choice EF, it had little problem in realizing $22,800 on its $17,000-$20,000 estimate.
This article was originally printed in World Coin News. >> Subscribe today.
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