Tiền

For the river Tiền, see Tiền River.

The tiền (Hán tự: 錢) was a currency used in Vietnam during the 19th and 20th centuries. The name is a cognate with the Chinese qián (錢), a unit of weight called "mace" in English.

In the early 19th century, silver and gold bars were traded as currency in imperial Vietnam with values of up to 10 tiền (approximately 40 grams, or 1 tael). Bars of 1 tiền weighed between 3 and 4 grams.

During this time, silver and gold coins were minted (using Vietnamese characters and design, but of types resembling either Chinese cash or Western coins) with denominations of up to 10 tiền being minted.

These coins continued to be minted in varying quantities into the 20th century in French Indochina, although circulating alongside the French Indochinese piastre.

External links

• Vietnamese imperial coinage
• Descriptions of Vietnamese imperial coinage (in Vietnamese)