Barker, Dr. R. Allan. The Historical Cash Coins of Viet Nam. (Singapore, 2004).
Vietnam was the only region to rival China in the production of cash coins issuing a vast variety over a 1000 year period. The Historical Cash Coins of Vietnam is the definitive reference on the official cash coins issued from 960 AD to the early 20th century. It covers all the official issues including seldom seen rare coins as well as many varieties. The book provides clear color images of the author 's own coins from what is perhaps the strongest collection in its category. The coins are presented against a historical background that relates them to historically relevant people, places, and events, including coins issued by rebels and competing political factions.
Written while living in Asia, the author presents the more accurate Asian view of Vietnamese numismatics based on earlier works from Vietnam, Japan, and China while correcting misconceptions that have propagated from early Western works. The book is popular in Vietnam, China, and Japan, where collectors can navigate the book using multi-language tables, indices, headers, and a three language dictionary of important terms.
The book also makes an easy introduction to the subject of ancient Asian coins with background information on casting, coin legends, the Chinese language, and the calligraphic styles used on coins. Also of interest to new collectors, are several detailed studies of current forgeries of Vietnamese can Chinese coins.
Hardbound, 416 pages, full color on clay archival paper