Silver 1 tical or baht of Ang Duong

Cambodia, around AD 1850

A view of Angkor Wat

In the 1850s Ang Duong of Cambodia (reigned 1841-59) ordered coining presses from England to make silver and copper coins. Two Birmingham companies supplied presses and dies and a third set was later ordered from France. The King's decision to make coins was driven principally by his fascination for European machinery rather than by a desire to modernize Cambodia's monetary system.

This tical was one of the first issues made with the dies and presses from Birmingham. It is decorated with images of the mythical Hamsa bird and a view of the Khmer monument Angkor Wat. The inscription in Khmer gives the name of the kingdom and the date, 1847, of Ang Duong's formal coronation. Although issued on the Thai weight standard of the baht, Duong's coinage was not a success. Most of his subjects preferred to use imported Vietnamese and Thai coins.

J. Cribb, B. Cook and I. Carradice, The coin atlas (London and Sydney, Macdonald Illustrated, 1990)