Digital museum showcasing the collection of worldwide legends over the years! 千古不朽博物館展示多年來收藏的世界傳奇故事！
Qing Dynasty, porcelain Token (in flowers and gourd shapes )
Item number: A60
Year: AD 1800s-early 1900s
Size: 25 x 19 mm (gourd) / 23.7 x 21.76 mm(flower)
Weight: 3.29 g(gourd) / 4.15 g (flower)
Material: Porcelain
Provenance: Private collector, France, 2023
These tokens exhibit flowery and gourd-like forms. The reverse side of the flowery token is inscribed with the Chinese character ‘錢’ (money), while the gourd-shaped token is depicted with the character ‘方’ (Fang). Descriptions of these tokens can also be found on Mitchell’s Cigarettes cigarette cards.
Porcelain tokens, inscribed with Chinese or Thai characters and assuming diverse shapes, served as gambling currency in local gambling establishments during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in what was then Siam, now known as Thailand. Despite their ornate appearance, these tokens, known as “pees,” held genuine monetary value. The term “pee” likely originated from the Chinese word for cowrie shell, “pa” or “pa-tse.” Initially utilized as counters in a game called Fantan, these tokens were introduced in old Siam within Chinese-operated gambling houses known as hongs.
Notably, the unofficial yet widespread ‘pee’ currency in Thailand comprised tokens issued by Chinese operators within gambling houses in Ayutthaya and Bangkok, initially intended as counters or chips exchangeable for cash after gameplay. However, in the early nineteenth century, they evolved into a more practical medium of everyday exchange compared to low-value cowries and scarce government-issued silver coins.
The influx of Chinese migrants during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries brought with it a penchant for gambling, evident in the proliferation of gambling houses in Thailand. These establishments, licensed by the government, were primarily operated and frequented by the Chinese community, though Thai involvement in gambling was notable. Despite government regulations limiting gambling house operations to the New Year period, many remained open year-round, catering to enthusiastic Thai gamblers. Oversight of these establishments fell to Chinese operators, who managed gambling activities, resolved disputes, and facilitated transactions, extending beyond gambling to include the sale of beverages and other leisure activities.
Originally, low-value cowries and silver currency denominations such as salung, fuang, and att served as gambling stakes. However, they proved impractical for Chinese games of chance like thua and po due to their bulkiness or tendency to roll, leading gambling houses to issue their own durable counters, which eventually gained broader acceptance as currency beyond the establishments’ confines. To participate in gambling, individuals were required to purchase tokens using legal silver currency from the hong’s banker, with winnings exchangeable for silver afterward. As the small pee coin represented a substantial amount of cowries (ranging from 200 for the pai to 1600 for a salung), they became preferred for their convenience in handling and portability compared to shells. Merchants readily accepted pees in the marketplace and shops near hongs, with redemption guaranteed by the issuing hong for silver currency. This stipulation, enforced by the government, ensured that private gambling tokens became part of the widely accepted Tong Bao currency.
During the nineteenth century, ‘pee’ gained popularity to accommodate the needs of the bartering community, causing significant economic disruption. Consequently, the government sought a permanent solution to the chronic shortage of silver currency and official tender. Machineminted coins and printed paper money emerged in AD 1862, following the official withdrawal of imported cowries from circulation. The popular pees were outlawed in AD 1875, succeeded by the traditional bullet-shaped pot-duang in the early twentieth century. Since then, machine-made coinage and internationally standardized paper currency have adequately provided the country with a reliable medium of exchange.
Paul L.F. van Dongen (in collaboration with Nandana Chutiwongs, translated by Enid Perlin): Playthings in Porcelain: Siamese Pee in the National Museum of Ethnography (Leiden, 2003)
