Item number: A1288

Year: AD 1290-1556

Material: Silver

Size: 19.3 x 13.9 x 10.3 mm

Weight: 14.5 g

Provenance: Teutoburger Münzauktion GmbH 2023

This is a silver ingot shaped like a seashell, minted between AD 1290 and AD 1556 during the Lanna Kingdom, which was established in present-day northern Thailand. The ingot replicates the form of cowrie shells, one of the earliest natural currencies used in Southeast Asia. This silver piece faithfully reproduces the appearance and intricate details of a bivalve shell, with a sunburst-like stamp impressed at the base.

The Lanna Kingdom, whose name in the Lanna language means “The Land of a Million Rice Fields,” was referred to in Yuan Dynasty Chinese records as the “Kingdom of Eight Hundred Wives.” Its centre of power was located in Chiang Mai, now a major city in northern Thailand. At its zenith, the kingdom’s territory stretched east to the Mekong River, west to the Salween River, south to Tak Province, and north to Xishuangbanna in Yunnan, China.

The kingdom was composed of numerous independent or semi-independent political entities known as “müang”. Lanna began to decline in the 16th century, falling under the domination of the Toungoo Dynasty of Burma, becoming its vassal. In AD 1774, Siam’s Thonburi Kingdom expelled the Burmese forces from Lanna, which subsequently became a Siamese vassal state. This status persisted until AD 1892, when the Bangkok-based Chakri Dynasty officially annexed Lanna into Siam.

物件編號: A1288

年代: 公元 1290-1556 年

材質: 銀

尺寸: 19.3 x 13.9 x 10.3 mm

重量: 14.5 g

來源: 條頓堡錢幣拍賣 2023

這是一枚公元1290至1556年，建立於今日泰國北部的蘭納王國，模仿東南亞地區最為原始的自然貨幣海貝，依樣製造的貝殼造型銀錠。這枚貝殼銀錠高度還原兩扇貝的外觀和細節，並且在底部打印一個類似日輪形狀戳記。

蘭納王國在蘭納語的意思是「百萬畝的稻田」，中國元朝將其記載為「八百媳婦國」，今天泰國北部的重鎮清邁為其統治中心。王國在巔峰之際，其疆域東達湄公河，西抵薩爾溫江，南至達府，北到雲南的西雙版納，其國內主要由多個稱作「勐」的獨立和半獨立政治實體組成。

蘭納王國在公元16世紀走向衰敗，先是遭到西邊緬甸的東吁王朝征服成為屬國。公元1774年，暹羅的吞武里王朝擊退佔領蘭納的緬甸勢力，蘭納轉而成為暹羅屬國直到公元1892年遭到曼谷王朝正式併吞為止。