Archaeological findings 2012 - Ancient coins in Tuyen Quang

Researching an ancient jars with the amount of up to 10kg showed some local trade history and trade in Tuyen Quang in the past.

The research team includes Master Le Canh Lam (Institute of Archeology) and Master Nguyen Thi Thanh Hai (Tuyen Quang Provincial Museum) said that this collection of coins was bought by digging people in Ham Yen district, Tuyen Quang. Earlier, the currency of a money jar. However, when the museum purchased, the money jars were no longer intact. The ceramic pieces of money jars are no longer available.'The entire money has been preliminarily fixed apart from each individual. Total weight is 10 kg ', the team said.

In 2012, archaeologists conducted rust removal and read 4kg of the above. Money is impregnated with rust remover, rust inhibitor and glue coating, then photographed, classification statistics. This preliminary classification is carried out on the traditional concept of money classification.

According to the traditional concept, coins with a diameter of 1.8 cm are called cockroaches. Money cockroaches although dating back to the time of Tong, Ly and Tran . but were later recast from the 17th to the early 20th century.

Copper with a diameter of 2.2 - 2.3cm is called small money because of its small size and lighter than standard ones. This small currency is difficult to accurately date the casting time. Want to conclude small money chronology must be based on stratigraphy, detection circumstances or by methods of determining alloy composition.

The other type is a large, thick, heavy coin that is thought to be cast into the right time.

This classification from the traditional point of view helps the team to correlate when needed with other groups of money. However, master Le Canh Lam said that the research team said that 'most of these coins were cast in the 18th century in Vietnam'.

Initial judgment shows that most of the cockroach money has a small diameter of about 1.8cm, thin and light. The remainder is slightly larger, with a diameter of about 2.2 - 2.3cm and is also small. The coins are rusty white but not the type of zinc but copper-zinc alloy. The coins cast the letters are very fuzzy, thin. Most strokes are not readable.

Some coins are found in money jars
Tuyen Quang - (Photo: Master Le Canh Lam provides)

The total amount is 1,841 VND. In it, the readable amount is 641 dong, the remaining 1,200 dong cannot be read and classified into an unspecified group.

Small money, great meaning

Research by archaeologists shows that out of 4kg of money with a total of 25 types of money, there are 21 types of money with Chinese brand. They are mainly in the Song Dynasty period, without money in the Nguyen Dynasty. At the beginning of the Ming period, there were only two types of Hong Vu and Vinh Lac (1403-1424).

Money bearing the Vietnamese trademark has 4 types from Ly Dynasty to Tran Dynasty (1379). There are no pre-Le and Nguyen periods.'So the currency with the latest date is Vinh Lac (1403-1424), which may be the date of this collection,' said master Le Canh Lam.

In particular, the collection of money discovered from the same jar has great significance. Due to not having to collect from many places, the chronology of the entire currency provides the basis for further study of coins. There are two problems. First, whether the phenomenon of money cockroaches and small money appeared in the late period around the 18th century to the early 20th century. Secondly, is Vietnam always simulating the smaller time of the Tang Dynasty like the small-sized Secular Clearance and all the coins in this collection.

With the above two questions, this collection also shows that the production date is determined by the method of reading words and considering the unconvincing shape. While this is also the way of dating in the current references about coins. Most are based on private collections, which suggest that only large, thick currencies are contemporary money in accordance with their dates.

Before having this question from the pre-Tuyen Quang research team, archaeological practice also showed that determining the date of casting through size, letters is not always true. Remember at the excavation site 62-64 Tran Phu, Hanoi excavated in 2008 with an area of ​​2,800m ² , has collected 460 coins dating from Ngu Thu (China) to Minh Mang (Vietnam). These coins are located in deep strata containing the Ly and Tran ceramics relics but are also smaller in size than the larger ones. Therefore, in order to determine the money casting date, it is necessary to apply the method of analyzing alloy components and stratigraphic analyzes, the absolute date of the attached relics if possible.

Therefore, if possible, the research team intends to study somewhat the methods of analyzing alloy components, strata, attached relics to compare with traditional classification results.

Due to the characteristics of the currencies in this collection, which are small in size, but bearing the title of Tong, Ly and Tran, it is a valuable resource for in-depth research on the type of cockroaches by many scientific approaches. Thereby the research will contribute to assessing the local trade history. For example, it shows how the trade in Tuyen Quang took place.