About Lak Chaeo Medal: The First Commemorative Medal to Bear the Royal Portrait of a Thai King, King Chulalongkorn (Rama V)
Compiled from partner sources; under review and editing by our team.
Translated from Thai by AI and not yet reviewed by our team. Names and royal titles may need correction.
History
It has been a belief among people since ancient times that reproducing one's likeness on any object will shorten the life of the person depicted. This belief still persisted among the elders of our society within the past hundred years, who held that being photographed would shorten one's life.
King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), the Beloved Great King (Phra Piyamaharat), was a monarch of great ability in all royal duties and a truly brilliant sovereign. His long reign (1868–1910, B.E. 2411–2453) may truly be called "the Age of Reform or the Age of Modernization."
He cast aside this old belief completely. He had first commissioned a commemorative medal bearing his royal cipher "ส.พ.ป.ม.จ. ๕" as a royal memento of his birthday celebration in 1870 (B.E. 2413), the second year of his reign, which is regarded as the first commemorative medal. Then, in 1871 (B.E. 2414)
on the occasion of the celebration of his 18th birthday, another major event, Dr. Bradley recorded on 2 September 1871 (B.E. 2414): "Celebration of the King's 18th year, with lamps lit and great entertainments." On this occasion the King commissioned a second commemorative medal. This medal displayed the King's portrait for the first time in the history of properly made medals that year,
which would lead, five years later, to Thailand's first circulating coin bearing the royal portrait on its obverse: the Royal Portrait coin of 1876 (B.E. 2419).
The copper Lak Chaeo medal is considered very rare among the medals of the Fifth Reign, and counterfeits are very close to the genuine article, so one should only choose pieces that are easy to authenticate.
The royal photograph used as the model for engraving the Lak Chaeo medal is presumed to have been taken when the King was about 17 to 18 years of age.
Design
- Obverse
- Bust-length royal portrait of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), facing the left side of the medal. The King's hair is styled in the "Song Mahatthai" or "Song Lak Chaeo" fashion (the 'oar-post' style). He wears a jacket with yantra (sacred diagram) markings and royal decorations. Around the rim is the legend "สมเด็จพระปรมินทร มหาจุฬาลงกรณ์บดินทร เทพยมหามงกุฎ พระเจ้ากรุงสยามที่๕" (Somdet Phra Paramindra Maha Chulalongkorn Bodindra Thepphaya Maha Mongkut, King of Siam, the Fifth).
- Reverse
- The legend around the inner circle reads "การเฉลิมพระชนม์พรรษาปีมแมตรีศก ๓ จุลศักราช ๑๒๓๓ เป็นปีที่ ๓ ในรัชกาลปัตจุบันนี้" (Celebration of the royal birthday, Year of the Goat, third year of the decade, Chula Sakarat 1233, the third year of the present reign).
