VietNamNet Bridge – It is rumored that the gold linga at the Vietnam History Museum in HCM City, which was bought for four taels of gold, is a fake.

The linga (right) and the other artifacts that are said to belong to the Oc Eo culture (1st-7th century).

A gold linga as small as a little finger attracts the attention of many visitors in the room for Oc Eo culture (the culture of Funan kingdom from the 1st to the 7th century) at the museum.

In late 2007, experts of the museum went to the town of Oc Eo in Thoai Son district, An Giang province to buy the gold linga, which was said to be found in the garden of a local woman named Do Thi Luyen, in Tan Hiep B Hamlet, Oc Eo town.

Those who participated in the trip were museum employees, a professor of archeology and Mr. Vu Kim Loc, an expert in precious metal artifacts.

After checking the linga, experts decided to buy it for four taels of gold.

According to the museum’s profile, the linga is made of 0.538 tael of gold, 25,51mm long.

It was sold to the museum, along with two pieces of gold and three very thin, small sheets of gold and a broken round-shaped copper box shape of 7cm in diameter.

Only the linga and the two pieces of gold were intact. All of the items belong to the Oc Eo Culture of the 5th-6th century.

The profile also includes a warranty note from the seller – Luyen, in which Luyen confirmed that she found the linga in her garden. She is ready to take responsibility under the law and will refund if the linga is a fake.

When the linga was introduced to the public, experts whispered that it was a fake.

A specialist in precious metal antiques in HCM City said that an expert could see from a first look that it was a fake because its lines are very rough, the processing technique is very rudimentary, and it doesn’t have a layer of patina.

Museum staff said that friends, colleagues and foreign visitors had asked why the museum displayed a phony object.

"Such a sacred object like this must be monolithically molded. The quality of gold must be very different, too. This linga looks false, with very sloppy marks, and the new traces are too obvious!” he said.

Was the linga exchanged fraudulently?

Luyen said that in mid-2006, while planting trees, she discovered a copper box under several layers of rocks and bricks.

“When I picked up the box and opened it, the lid was broken in small pieces. Inside the box I saw a golden item and many very thin pieces of gold," Luyen recalled.

At first many antique traders came to see Luyen to buy the artifacts. Some offered 2-3 taels of gold but Luyen refused. An official of a museum in An Giang also wanted to buy the item but he did not accept the price of 4 taels of gold offered by Luyen.

The deputy director of the local museum recommended the item to the Vietnam History Museum in HCM City. This museum agreed to buy it for 4 taels of gold, equivalent to VND52 million at that time.

Mr. Pham Ngoc Hoa, an antique collector in Thoai Son district, who introduced the linga to the local museum in An Giang, said he visited Luyen many times to see the linga and offered up to VND30 million. But Luyen did not agree, so he introduced it to the museum.

Hoa said he had held and checked the linga very carefully several times. Seeing the picture of the linga at the museum in HCM City, he said the item was strange, and had a new white spot.

Luyen said that many people came to see her at that time and all of them were permitted to hold the item to check.

Hoa disclosed that a man who was known as a super-expert in making faked Oc Eo artifacts went to see the linga at Luyen’s house several times.

Hoa also had doubts about Vu Kim Loc, a member of the delegation of the Vietnam History Museum.

Loc said that he only followed the delegation as a viewer. “Based on my experience, I knew that it was not the real one. I told them my suspicions but they ignored my opinion and decided to buy it.”

Hoang Anh Tuan, Director of the Vietnam Museum of History in HCM City, said he was surprised by the rumor that the gold linga was a fake.

Tuan said the linga had been purchased before he assumed office. He said this was a very sensitive issue and the linga was assessed by experts. However, he said he would tell these experts about his suspicions.

T. Van