'Bullet' money minted in time of Rama VI
In reply to Les Stanley's letter of October 26, I would like point out that while bullet money ceased to be legal tender in 1904, to quote from Reginald Le May's book, "Coinage of Siam", referring to the coinage of Rama VI (reigned 1910-1925), "Gold salun
Le May was actually given a demonstration on how the bullet coins were made.
My co-author, Vasilijs Mihailovs, personally conducted assays on a wide range of bullet coins and found their silver content to average out at about 96 per cent. I arranged for follow up assays at the Gem and Jewellery Institute of Thailand and their results confirm this.
Ronachai Krisadaolarn
author, ‘Siamese Coins from Funan to the Fifth Reign’
published by Riverbooks
