Sale: CNG 60, Lot: 2158. Estimate $300.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 22 May 2002.  Sold For $375. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

VIETNAM (French Indo-China)? Circa 1950. AV 96x37mm Ingot (14.59 gm). KIM-THANH ("pure gold")/ /AIGON-HONG KONG/HANOI-PNOMPENH/OR PUR, TT logos in corners, Chinese legend in central field; c/m DiNH at top. KM -; Friedberg -. Unusual and scarce item. ($300)

This paper-thin ingot appears to have been struck with a roller-die as opposed to a flat plate. The countermark suggests a function on the order of a circulating currency. This ingot is believed to have been intended as a means by which the Vietnamese could smuggle larger stores of wealth from the country amidst the instability of the Indo-China wars and the oppressive French puppet government. This is certainly plausible, as the ingot would slip easily between the pages of a book, in a garment, or the sole of a shoe. An interesting relic of the period just prior to the Vietnam War.