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Vietnamese cash (Vietnamese: văn; Hán tự: 文; French: Sapèque) is a cast round coin with a square hole. The same type of currency circulated in China, Japan and Korea for centuries.
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History
The first Vietnamese coins were cast under the rule of the Đinh Dynasty (968–981).
Cash coins circulated in the 19th century along with silver and gold bars, as well as silver and gold coins known as tiền. Denominations up to 10 tien were minted, with the 7 tiền coins in gold and silver being similar in size and weight to the Spanish 8 real and 8 escudo pieces. These coins continued to be minted into the 20th century, albeit increasingly supplanted by French colonial coinage.
After the introduction of modern coinage by the French in 1878, cash coins remained in circulation until 1945 and were valued at the rates of about 500–600 cash for one piastre.
The last king whose name was cast on cash coins, Emperor Bảo Đại, died in 1997.
Machine-struck cash
There were several efforts by French administration to produce machine-struck cash (sapeque):
Emperors Khải Định (1916–1925) and Bảo Đại (1925–1945) produced both cast and machine-struck cash.