The Vietnamese văn (

chữ Hán ( , ) are the Chinese characters that were used to write Literary Chinese in Vietnam, Literary Chinese (; ) and Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary in Vietnamese language, Vietnamese. They were officially used in Vietnam after the Red River Delta region ...

: 文;

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

: ''Sapèque'') as a denomination for

Vietnamese cash The Vietnamese cash (chữ Hán: ; chữ Nôm: ; ), also called the sapek or sapèque, is a cast round coin with a square hole that was an official currency of Vietnam from the Đinh dynasty in 970 until the Nguyễn dynasty in 1945, and remai ...

coins was used from 1868 until 1945 during the reign of the

Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (, chữ Nôm: 茹阮, chữ Hán: 朝阮) was the last List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, preceded by the Nguyễn lords and ruling unified Vietnam independently from 1802 until French protectorate in 1883 ...

. The inspiration to introduce the ''văn'' may have been to emulate the Chinese ''wén'' used on contemporary Qing dynasty cash coins which had just become a

fiat currency Fiat money is a type of government-issued currency that is not backed by a precious metal, such as gold or silver, nor by any other tangible asset or commodity. Fiat currency is typically designated by the issuing government to be legal tender, ...

, however unlike the Chinese system where all

Chinese cash coins The cash or ''qian'' was a type of coin of China and the East Asian cultural sphere, Sinosphere, used from the 4th century BCE until the 20th century, characterised by their round outer shape and a square center hole ( zh, c=方穿, poj=hong-chh ...

were cast from the same metals and the ''wén'' was the primary unit of account for coins made of the same metals, the Vietnamese system used the ''văn'' as a basic number currency symbol indicating how much

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

cash coins (銅鐱, ''đồng kẽm'') a

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

cash coin (''đồng điếu'') was worth, the Vietnamese cash coins-based currency system used the '' mạch'' (陌) and '' quán'' (貫) as units of account that could be based on either zinc cash coins or copper-alloy cash coins depending on the region or context. It was continued to be used as a measurement for zinc cash coins when the

French Indochinese piastre The piastre de commerce ("trade piastre") was the currency of French Indochina between 1887 and 1954. It was first used in 1885. It was subdivided into 100 ''cents'', each of 2~6 '' sapèques''. The name '' piastre'' (), from Spanish pieces o ...

was introduced, after which the term still appeared on Vietnamese cash coins and represented a subdivision of copper-alloy cash coins rather than the piastre, this was known in French as the ''sapèque en zinc'', as the production of zinc coinage was ceased by the Imperial government of the Nguyễn dynasty around the year 1871. The French zinc ''sapèque'' was worth generally worth of a piastre (a currency based on the

Mexican peso The Mexican peso (Currency symbol, symbol: $; ISO 4217, currency code: MXN; also abbreviated Mex$ to distinguish it from peso, other peso-denominated currencies; referred to as the peso, Mexican peso, or colloquially varo) is the official curre ...

) during the French domination period were primarily used in the French protectorate of Tonkin. Meanwhile cash coins that circulated in the French protectorate of Annam tended to be made from copper-alloys and were valued higher than the Tonkinese zinc cash coins, these cash coins still typically used the ''văn'' currency unit. The

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

term ''văn'' (文) would appear on the Thành Thái Thông Bảo (成泰通寶),

Duy Tân Thông Bảo Duy () is a Vietnamese given name. Notable people with the name include: * Đái Duy Ban (born 1937), Vietnamese scientist * Đào Duy Từ (1572–1634), Vietnamese poet * Duy Tân (1899–1945), Emperor of Vietnam * Phạm Duy (1921–2013), Vie ...

(維新通寶), and

Bảo Đại Thông Bảo The Bảo Đại Thông Bảo (chữ Hán: 保大通寶; French language, French: ''Sapèque Bao-Daï'') was a round Copper-alloy coin with a square hole produced by the Nguyễn dynasty under French Indochina, French protection and was the last ...

(保大通寶) cash coins produced under French rule, the last of these was officially produced until 1945.保大 Bảo Đại 1926-1945 cash coins
By Sema (Art-Hanoi) Cash coins of Bao Dai were the last cash-style coins produced in the world. Retrieved: 19 March 2019

History

It first used by official decree in January 1868 during the reign of the

Tự Đức Tự Đức (, vi-hantu, :wikt:嗣, 嗣:wikt:德, 德, , 22 September 1829 – 19 July 1883) (personal name: Nguyễn Phúc Hồng Nhậm, also Nguyễn Phúc Thì) was the fourth emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam, and the country's la ...

Emperor which decreed that "the value of the large module

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

cash coin passed to 6 (zinc) and the small copper coin to 4 zinc". In 1872 the first brass

Tự Đức Thông Bảo Tự Đức Thông Bảo (chữ Hán: 嗣德通寶) was an inscription used on different coins made from various metals and alloys during the reign of Emperor Tự Đức. The coinage of Tự Đức saw the introduction of the term '' văn'' (文) ...

(嗣德通寶) cash coins with the monetary unit văn were cast in

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

, these cash coins has weight of 7 phần and had the reverse inscription "Lục Văn" (六文) on them indicating that these coins were worth 6 zinc cash coins. The introduction of this new currency symbol marked the change in the relationship between Vietnamese cash coins made from copper and cash coins of zinc and it '' de facto'' increased the value of the Vietnamese brass cash currency. In November 1879 the official value of 6 copper phần was equal to 6 sapèques of zinc. However the foreign cash coinages as well as imitation (counterfeit) Vietnamese cash coins made of inferior alloys that circulated in Vietnam at the time were exchanged for only 3 cash coins of zinc.Art-Hano
CURRENCY TYPES AND THEIR FACE VALUES DURING THE TỰ ĐỨC ERA.
This is a translation of the article "Monnaies et circulation monetairé au Vietnam dans l'ère Tự Đức" (1848–1883) by Francois Thierry Published in Revue Numismatique 1999 (volume # 154). pp. 267–313. This translation is from pages 274–297. Translator: Craig Greenbaum. Retrieved: 19 March 2019. In the year 1893, large brass Thành Thái Thông Bảo (成泰通寶) cash coins with a denomination of 10 ''văn'' (十文, ''thập văn''), or 10 zinc cash coins, started being produced by the

Huế Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...

Mint. During the end of the 19th century a Tonkinese string of zinc cash coins typically had 600 coins while an Annamese string of copper-alloy cash coins only had 100 coins.

References

Sources

* Eduardo Toda y Güell (1882
ANNAM and its minor currency.
Hosted on Art-Hanoi. (

Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons, or simply Commons, is a wiki-based Digital library, media repository of Open content, free-to-use images, sounds, videos and other media. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used ...

) * Dr. R. Allan Barker. (2004) ''The historical Cash Coins of Viet Nam''. {{Nguyễn dynasty topics Currencies of Vietnam Modern obsolete currencies Economic history of Vietnam Cash coins

History

See also

References

Sources