Thailand BE2489 25 satang KM-Y66
This specimen was lot 75792 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, February 2024), where it sold for $384. The catalog description[1] noted, "THAILAND. 25 Satang (1/4 Baht), BE 2489 (1946). Bangkok Mint. Rama VIII. NGC MS-65. An enticing Gem with luster shining through the steely grays on the obverse. Exceeded in the NGC census by a sole example." During World War Two, the Thai regime signed an alliance with Japan and was rewarded with slices of occupied Burma and French Indochina. The king sat out the war in Switzerland. As a result of the contributions made to the Allied war efforts by the Free Thai Movement, the United States refrained from dealing with Thailand as an enemy country in post-war peace negotiations. The king, aged 20, returned to Thailand in December 1945, but six months later, in June 1946, he was found shot dead in his bed under very mysterious circumstances. He was succeeded by his brother Bhumibol Adulyadej (r. 1946-2016). This 25 satang or quarter baht was struck in 1946, likely using a prewar portrait of the king. The early coinage of Thailand, or Siam, is a confusing mix of atts, fuangs, salungs and bahts. However, by this period, the system had been simplified to 100 satang = one baht. This is the first issue of this denomination since 1929. This coin is remarkable for its tin composition. Tin is plentiful in Thailand but makes a poor coinage alloy and is no longer used there for minting. Another 25 satang dated BE 2489 (but struck in the fifties) featured a teenaged bust of the king (KM 70).
Recorded mintage: unknown but common.
Specification: tin.
Catalog reference: KM-Y66.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, February 2024 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
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