Vietnam was the only region competing with China for the production of a wide variety of metal money. They were produced for 1000 years, from 960 to the beginning of the twentieth century. Coins of Vietnam are associated with historically significant people, places and events. They were released not only by official authorities, but also by rebels and rival political groups.
The monetary system in the Middle Ages
The first Vietnamese coins appeared during the reign of the Ding Dynasty. Although over the next two centuries, metallic money remained rare for ordinary people, as barter remained the dominant medium of exchange.
As a rule, the Vietnamese coins during the Li Dynasty were of worse quality than the Chinese, they were thinner and lighter. This was due to an acute shortage of copper during this period. This situation inspired Chinese merchants to process their own money for export to Vietnam, which caused the spread of a large number of coins in the country. As a result, the Lee government suspended minting for five decades.
During the reign of the Chan Dynasty, a lot of coins were issued. However, due to internal political struggle, they were not produced during the reign of the last seven rulers of this dynasty.
During the Ho period in 1396, the use of coins was prohibited in favor of the first banknotes.
After Le Thai Tu came to power in 1428, supplanting the Ming dynasty, ending the fourth Chinese dominance in Vietnam, Le Tai Ti adopted a new policy aimed at improving the quality of coin production, as a result, they could compete with the best Chinese samples.
New time
At the turn of the 18th century, many copper mines were discovered, and the production of high-quality Vietnamese coins resumed. Under the emperor Le Hie-Tong (1740-1786), new types of metallic money Cảnh Hưng appeared, including with denominations of 50 and 100 van. Currently, there are about 80 known different species. The reason for this diversity is that the Le government needed large funds to pay for its expenses, so they tried to solve the problem by increasing the money supply. Previously banned workshops minting low-quality coins were legalized.
Since 1837, the production of copper coins began during the Nguyen dynasty. Gradually they were supplanted by zinc, which became the basis of the Vietnamese monetary system. The currency standard appeared - 1 dong (about 2.28 grams), which was used by subsequent rulers.
However, in 1871, the production of zinc money ceased, firstly, because of the Chinese pirates, whose actions complicated trade and raised the cost of their production. Secondly, their face value was lower than the actual one, and the metal itself was rather fragile, so they often broke.
Until 1849, Vietnam’s copper coins became rare and distributed only in the provinces surrounding the capital. Between 1868 and 1872, brass money contained only about 50% copper and 50% zinc. Due to the natural shortage of copper in Vietnam, the country always did not have enough resources to produce enough of them.
France controlled the lands of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from the late 1880s to 1954, and this colonial empire was called L'Indochine française, or French Indochina.
During this period, piastre was a popular monetary unit; but Mexican coins and a local dong were also in circulation.
Twentieth century
After World War II, the country gained independence. But French control continued even after the creation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. In 1945, the government of the new state issued aluminum coins. In order to eliminate the mixture of different currencies.
Modern Vietnamese coins use Roman numerals. If the coins do not have communist symbols, then they were minted in South Vietnam until 1975. In the socialist republic, various types of Vietnamese su coins were issued (10, 20 and 50). And also 1, 5, 10 and 20 dongs.
In the northern part of the country, the first Vietnamese coins appeared in 1945, when the rebels declared independence of this territory, but they were circulated only on the lands they captured. After the state officially became sovereign, in 1954 a new series of 1, 2, and 5 su was released in 1958, 1, 2, and 5 chaos and 1 dong, which appeared in 1976.
Modernity
In 2003, Vietnam, after more than a twenty-five-year hiatus, began again minting money. A whole generation has grown up that never used coins! In the end, the government satisfied the requests of merchants and citizens who needed them at least for ease of use in vending machines.
Since then, Vietnam has no longer issued new coins. A 5000 dong copper coin depicts Chua Mot Kot Temple in Hanoi. For 2000 - a traditional house with a high roof. Brass 1000 dongs released with the image of a temple in the ancient capital of Hue. Vietnamese coins of 500 and 200 dong are made of a copper-nickel alloy, only the denominations are embossed on them. All of them are dated 2003, the national emblem is located on the obverse.