| T.D.Luc November 09, 1998 |
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Obverse: Vietnamese Thien Phuc Tran Bao
Left coin Reverse:  Le (dynasty name)
above the holeRight coin Reverse: large above the hole
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In China, the Sung's Emperor decided to take advantage of the death of
Emperor Dinh Tien Hoang to resume Chinese domination in Great
Viet. At that time, Dinh's successor was too young, hence Great Viet’s generals
enthroned Le Hoan. Le took the title Emperor Le Dai
Hanh and had the reign title Thien Phuc, changed later to Hung Thong and Ung
Thien. Emperor Le defeated Sung's ground forces and killed Sung's General Hau Nhan Bao in Chi Lang. As soon as Sung's navy forces advancing the river of Bach Dang heard the news, they retreated. Emperor Le Dai Hanh died in 1005 after 24 years of rule. According to the Vietnamese Historical Currency published by Yunnan and GuangXi Numismatic Society, when Emperor Le acceded the throne, he ordered to cast Thai Binh Hung Bao coin with the plain reverse side. Later on, he ordered to cast Thien Phuc Tran Bao coin. The Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu (The Complete Book of the Historical Records of Great Viet) and the Kham Dinh Viet Su Thong Giam Cuong Muc (Imperially Ordered Annotated Text Completely Reflecting the History of Viet) recited "In the fifth year of Thien Phuc [984], the year of Monkey, the second month in Spring, [Le] cast Thien Phuc coin". The reverse side of the coin had the inscription Le above the squared hole. Its weight was about 2.3 gram and its diameter was about 24 mm. There were rare Thien Phuc coin with large Le or without Le on the reverse side. The character Le was much larger than the side of squared hole. | |
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Chinese Coinage Web Site | |