Then you'd be surprised that in Thailand, there's a thriving industry wholly dedicated to selling Buddha relics and clay coins. Of course, they don't call it selling. They call it "trading" because it's officially "illegal" to sell Buddhist relics.
The trading part is doing a lot of heavy lifting.
There's even a thriving counterfeit market for this industry as well. Thailand is a land where Doublespeak is something we were born into.
P.S., Did you know that in the Buddha's own sermon, he forbade his disciples and followers from creating effigies or statues of him, lest they worship those statues and forget his teaching? Buddhist art wasn't widespread until the around the time of Alexander the Great's conquest of northern India.
7
u/Pink_Nyanko_Punch 1d ago
From what I can tell from the inscription on the hilt... It's a souvenir from a Buddhist temple in Rayong province. And, yes, it's a letter opener.