Collector's Guide to Sought-After Thai Monk Amulets
Collectors prize rare Thai Buddhist amulets including the 1974 Luang Pu Sim medal from Chiang Mai and the highly valuable 1952 Luang Pho Chom medal from Surat Thani, one of southern Thailand's most prestigious amulets.
The article features several highly sought-after Buddhist amulets and their histories. The Luang Pu Sim Budhajarero Mercy Medal was first cast in 1974 at Tham Pha Plong monastery in Chiang Mai's Prao district to raise funds for medicine and patient care; it comes in gold, silver, lead, and copper versions and features a half-length image with the word 'Mercy' inscribed below. The first-edition Luang Pho Chom medal from Wat Tha Sai in Surat Thani, created in 1952 during a Buddha image casting ceremony with only 3,000 pieces minted, is ranked among the most prestigious and valuable amulets of southern Thailand. The article also covers Luang Pu Iem Suvanasoro's four-yantra and five-yantra medals from Bangkok's Wat Nang Rajwarawiharn, cast in 1924 and 1925 respectively, with the five-yantra version remaining the most popular of all time. Finally, it describes Luang Pho Fu's Mantra of Khayal amulet from Wat Bang Samak in Chachoengsao, created to fund a naga-staircase construction project at Wat Chuk Kaeo in Chonburi, featuring an egg-shaped design with a meditating monk image and a Hanuman figure on the reverse.
