These tiny billon pieces circulated during the period when the Khmer kingdom had contracted dramatically from its Angkor-era dominance, its capital shifted repeatedly under pressure from Siamese and Vietnamese encroachment. Minting infrastructure was accordingly minimal, and these coins were produced by methods closer to local smithing than organized state production — accounting for the extreme irregularity in flan shape and metal quality seen across surviving examples.
These tiny billon pieces circulated during the period when the Khmer kingdom had contracted dramatically from its Angkor-era dominance, its capital shifted repeatedly under pressure from Siamese and Vietnamese encroachment. Minting infrastructure was accordingly minimal, and these coins were produced by methods closer to local smithing than organized state production — accounting for the extreme irregularity in flan shape and metal quality seen across surviving examples.