Evolution of Thai Money
This book is the result of over 40 years of study of the various forms of Thai money from their origins in the ancient kingdoms and empires starting with Funan up to the introduction of the modern decimal system of baht and satang. As such it represents a supplement to Krisadaolarn and Vasilijs Mihailovs' award-winning book, Siamese Coins - From Funan to the Fifth Reign, and includes hundreds of additional coins illustrated in various aspects. This work covers the production of pressed silver coins; the use of metallic ingots known as toks; elongated silver bars commonly known as tiger tongues; bent ingots known as chiang money; metallic alloy, glass and porcelain tokens and most famously pot duang, commonly called bullet money because of their shape. The book ends with the transition to flat coinage similar to that used today. The author personally examined, photographed and weighed thousands of specimens, conducted hundreds of assays and obtained images from national museums, dealers and private collectors.
Ronachai Krisadaolarn (Ronald Jay Cristal) was born in Brooklyn in 1942. After receiving his LLB and JD cum laudae degrees from Albany Law School, he arrived in Thailand in 1969 as an American Air Force Judge Advocate and later pursued a legal career specialising in business law, becoming a Thai citizen in 1998. One of the leading coin experts in Thailand, he has co-edited, authored or been a consultant on numerous signifcant coin books and exhibtions. He and his co-author of Siamese Coins - From Funan to the Fifth Reign were awarded First Prize Medal and Diploma for the best numismatic publication for the year 2012 by the International Association of Professional Numismatists (IAPN) and The Professional Numismatic Guild, Inc. award for the same publication. Ronachai is a life member of the Numismatic Association of Thailand.