On A Collection of Coins From Malacca

On a Collection of Coins from Malacca
Author(s): R. Hanitsch
Source: Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, No. 39 (JUNE 1903), pp. 183-
202
Published by: Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41560533
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On a Collection of Coins from Malacca.
By R. Hanitsch, Ph. D.
( Withtwoplates.)
Aboutthreeyearsago, duringsome excavationsnearthe
mouthof the Malacca river,a considerablenumberof coins
was foundscatteredin themud. Thesewerecollectedtogether
andhandedoverto theHon'bleW. Egerton,Resident-Councillor
of Malacca at the time,and presentedby himto the Raffles
Museum. The collectionhas provedto be of the greatestin-
terest. It containscoinsofbothAsiaticand Europeanorigin,
theEuropeancoins,Portuguese,Dutch and English,embracing
practically thewholehistoryof thevarious Europeanoccupa-
tionsof Malacca,coveringthusa periodof aboutfourhundred
years. The most interesting of thecoins are thoseof Portu-
guese all
origin, of tin. They are probablyquiteunique: the
BritishMuseumdoes notpossessany,and numerous enquiriesI,
havemadeaboutthemin variousplaces,includingLisbon,have
remained withoutresult. With regardto theirdiscoveryMr.
Egerton -
writes:
" The Malacca Coinswerefoundin
digginga channelfrom
themouthof theriverseawards. Outsidethemouththereis a
deeppool,and beyondthat a bank submergedat highwater,
extending somehalfmileormoreseawards. It was in thisbank
thecoins were foundscatteredhere and there,notin large
pockets. The bankcontainedquantities of householddetritus,
brokencrockery and old ironware,biicks,earthenware,etc. I
thinkit is quitepossiblebuildingson piles,like thosenowseen
on theforeshore, mayhavebeenbuilton thisbank,or possibly
all thisrubbishwas thrownout of shipsat anchor,or washed
downout oftheriver. Most of the coins were foundin the
firsthundredyards outsidethe big pool referredto above.
Theremustbe manystillthere."
I. THE ASIATIC COINS.

Thattincoins,struckby the inhabitants of theplace,ex-
istedin Malacca beforethe arrivalthereof the Portugueseis
R. A.Soc.,No 39,1903.
184 COINS FROMMALACCA.
provedby certainaccountsin Albuquerque's Commentaries (#)*,

butthefactseemsto havealmostescapednumismatologists, for
Millies(12), p. 140,speakingof thecurrency of theMalay Pen-
insulasays: " Mêmel'étatmalaisi célèbrede Malaka,qui était
parvenuà son apogéeau commencement du XVIe siècle, lors-
qu'il tombasous la forcematérielle majeureet l'héroisme des
Portugais, nenousa laisséaucunmonument numismatique connu,
et nousne savonsmêmepas,si ce étatmalaipossédaitdéjà une
monnaiepropre." In thisMilliesis certainlywrong,forin Al-
buquerque'sCommentaries (£),Vol. Ill, p. 77, we finda mention
ofnativecoinwhichtellshow KingXaquendarxa(i. e. Iskander
Shah),ruler of Malacca,wentto see thekingof China,wishing
to become his vassal and took with him many presents,
receiving in "return,amongst other privileges,permission
to coin small moneyof pewter,which moneyhe ordered
to be made as soon as he reachedMalacca; and to it he
gave thenameof Caixes whichare likeour (i. e. Portuguese)
ceitils,and a hundredgo to the calaim,and each calaim was
worth,to an appointed law,elevenreisand fourceitils. Silver
and Gold Was notmade into money,butonly usedby way of
merchandise."The fact thatMalacca possessednativepewter
coins on the arrivalof the Portuguesebecomesindisputable
whenwe readthatAlbuquerque aftertheoccupationof Malacca
mintedcoinsunderthenameof hisking,D. Manuel," in order
to withdraw and suppressthe coinageof the Moors and cast
theirrootandtheirname out of theland,"and that whenthe
new coinage was ready,he gave orders " that all theMoors "
whoheldcoinof theKing ofMalaccashouldconveyit thither
(i. e. to themint)"withoutdelay underpainof death;and so
greata quantityof moneywas thuscarriedthereout of fearof
thepenaltywhichhadbeenappointedto them,that the officers
couldnotdispatchtheirbusinessfastenough."(Vol. Ill, p. 138).
I am sorryI cannotfurnishabsoluteproofthatthecollec-
tionreallycontainscoinsof thatearlyperiod. Thereare about
150 tincoinswithArabicinscriptions, but thosefewwhichare
clearenoughto be deciphered are of a muchlaterdate. It may
be thatthemostwornand defacedcoinsbelongto theperiod
•Thesenumbers to thelistof Literature
refer at theetidofthe
papen
Straits
Jour. Branch
COINS FROMMALACCA. 185
beforethe arrivalof the Portuguese. Their average size is

21mm= rž in.,and theirweight2.5 grammes. It is note-
worthythatthecollectiondoes not containany of the well-
knownperforated tin coinswhichare still currentin Treng-
gaau and Kelantan.
The coins whichhave beenpartlyor wholly deciphered
:-
art,»
(1) a coinwiththedate 1173 in Arabiccharacters,1 'Y?
whichwouldcorrespond to theyear 1757 A. D.
(2) two coins withthe date 1174 1 | Yi. i. e. 1758 A. D.
(3) twocoinswiththeinscription on theobverse
0'LL i. e. Sultánu
J j'o¿' i. е. Ч-'âdil(=the just)

on thereverse
ь e. AhmadBin
i»e. Mahmûd
In one of thesetwocoins, this inscription
is delicate,but
exceedingly sharpandclearlydefined.
(4) a coinwiththeinscription on theone side
jW i. e. Khan
i. e. Mahmûd
Vs
Tne letterson theotherside are too much wornto be deci-
phered.
I am indebtedto CaptainR. P. Jackson,S. C., 13thMadras
Infantry,forhavingkindlyidentifiedthesesixcoinsforme.
(5). Thereis an éxceedingly well preservedcoin,withone
sidequitesmooth,butbearingon theotherside the inscription
i. e. maliku
J i. e. 'Pádil
К. A.See.,No.39,1903.
whichmeans' The just king.' Its sizeis 24mm= || in. and its
weight3.3 grammes J. Wilkinson
(See pl. I, fig.5). Mr.Jft. kind-
thiscoinforme,and I subsequently
ly identified foundit figured
and describedby Netscherand Van der Chijs(18,) p. 179, pl.
XXVI, fig.245,and by Millies(12,) p. 148,pl. XXIII, fig.250.
The specimendescribedby the formertwoauthorshasalso one
sideentirelysmooth,andtheystatethatthetitlemaliku'l-'âdilis
used by severalrulersof WesternBorneo. Accordingto them
thecoin wouldhave comefromSambasor Mampawain West
Borneoand date fromtheyear 1822. Millies,however,refers
thecointo Trengganu.*
(6). The coinfiguredon pl. II, fig.2, seemsto bear only
a portionoftheinscription maliku'i-'âdilon theone side,whilst
thecharacterson theother side are too indistinct to be deci-
phered.
Someof these tincoinsmaypossiblyhave come fromSu-
matra.Marsden(9), p. 401,speaksoftincoinscurrent inAcheen,
and Netscherand Van der Chijs(13), p. 162,too describesuch
coins fromAcheen,as well as fromPalembang, Jambiand the
neighbouringislandof Banka, but I have not been able to
identify anyfo theMalacca coinswiththem.
The collectionalso contains a fewChinesecoins,cash,which,
however,are too muchcorrodedto be identified.
II. THE EUROPEANCOINS.
1. The PortugueseCoins.
The Europeancoins found at Malacca are Portuguese,
Dutchand English,and,as I statedbefore,theirdates embrace
thewholeperiodof theoccupationof thatplace by these three
nations.
•SincewritingtheaboveI haveseena paperbyLt. Col. Gerini,
'A Malay Coin,' Journal,Royal Asiatic Society,April 1903,
pp.339-343,in whichcertainsmallgoldcoins,foundm Jaring, near
Patani,aredescribed.Theirobverse is ' an imitationofa Southern
Indianfanambearing the figureof a manelesslion,'whilst their
reversebearstheinscription
J reminding thusstrongly of the
tincoinsdescribedabove. Dr. Codrington is of opinionthat those
goldcoinshadcomefrom Acheen.
Branch
Straits
Jour.
COINS FROM MALACCA. 187
Malacca was takenbythe PortugueseunderAlbuquerque

in 1511and held by themuntil1641. The kings of Portugal
duringthatperiod were:-
Emmanuel,1495- 1521
JohnIII, 1521- 1557
Sebastian, 1557- 1578
and fourothersto whomit will not be necessaryto referin
thispaper. From1041 to 1795 theDutchheldpossessionof it,
from1795to 1818 the English,from1818 to 1824 theDutch
again,and sincethenthe English.
The coinsin thecollectionwhichdate fromthetimeofthe
firstDutchoccupationare nearlyall wellknown,butit is other-
wisewitha largenumberof tincoinsstruckby thePortuguese
in Malacca itself; in factas I said before,it seems doubtful
whetherany more of these coinsexist at the present day.
However,therecordof thefirstmintestablishedby Albuquer-
"
que in Malacca, as given in his Commentaries," and quoted
below,leavesno doubtas to theiridentity.
Thismintwas theonlyone ever established in Malacca by
Europeans. Thiswas in 1511, immediately afterthe conquest
of the piece. In the previousyear, 1510, Albuquerquehad
conquered Goa,andhadestablished a mint
there,andas thecircum-
stancesunderwhichthose two mintswere foundedwere very
similar,and since,as will be shown below, the Malacca coins
werestruckafterthesame patternas those in Goa, although
notofthesamemetals,it maybe well firstto shortlynarrate
thehistoryof the founding of the mintin Goa.
Soon afterGoa had beentakenin 1510 theprincipal Moors
and Hindusof the countrywent to Albuquerqueand told him
howthe trade of the people sufferedbecause there was no
propercurrency,- begging himto coinsome moneyor at least
to permitthecoinageof theCabaio, the formerruler,to pass
current,which he had forbidden. Albuquerquethereupon
calleda meetingof the goldsmiths, some Portugueseexperts,
and thenativemerchants, and discussedthematter, afterwhich
he gave ordersforthe coinageof moneyin gold, silverand
copper,and on theone sidetheywereto stampa crossof the
orderof Christ, andon the othera sphere, - the device ofthe
King D. Manuel. And whenthemoneywas ready(March12th,
R.A._Soc„No.89,1003.
1510),Albuquerque" gave thewordto taketheroyalflag, and

thetrumpets andkettledrums,and assembleall the men in the
fleet,and orderedTristão Déga to go and proclaimit; and he
wentwithall thiscompanyof people all round thecity,andat
each proclamation thatwas madetheyscatteredquantities ofthe
new moneyoverthe heads of the crowds,whichweregreat,
and theywenton proceeding in this mannerround thecity."
(Vol. II, p. 131).
Whena fewmonths afterwardsGoa had been retakenby
theMoors,and Albuquerquehad reconquered it,he established
a new mintat Goa (Vol. Ill, p. 41).
AlbuquerquearrivedbeforeMalacca in themiddleof June
1511,madethefirstattackonJuly25th,conquereditinAugust,
and thentookspeedymeasuresforrestoring orderin theplace,
Ninachatu, a richHindumerchant, beingof thegreatest service
to himin thismatter. Ninachatuand some of the" Governors
of theland" soonapproachedAlbuquerqueand told himwhat
inconvenience thepeoplesuffered fromthewant of a currency,
and beggedhe wouldgive ordersforsome systemof coinage.
Albuquerquethereupon calledtogetherthe merchants, govern-
ors,andprincipal menof thecity,and arrangedwiththemthat
gold,silver,andpewtercoinsshouldbe struck, substitutingthus
pewterforthe coppercoins of Goa and utilizingthe natural
wealthof tinin theMalay Peninsula. We saw above thatthe
nativecoinagebeforethe arrivalof the Portuguesehad been
pewter,just as now-a-dayscoinsof thatmetalare currentin
Trengganuand Kelantan.
The gold coin,called Cattolico, should weigha quarterof
a tundiawhich,amongstthe Portuguese,was wortha thousand
reis. The silvercoins,called Malaqueses , i. e. Malacca pieces,
shouldhave thesamevalue of a quartertundia. The pewter
coinswereto be of threedifferent demoninations, viz :
1. dinheiro (i. e. money),thesmallestcoin,equal to two of
thepreviously existingcaixesof therulerof Malacca,bearing
thesphereof theKing D. Manuel,
2. soldo, equal to tendinheiros,
3. bastardo , equal to tensoldos.
A mintwas immediately and ordersweregiven
established,
thatunderpainof deaththeold coinageof theKingofMalacca
Straits
Jour. Branch
shouldbe deliveredthereto be reminted.Whenthishad been

done, and sufficient moneyhad beencoined,Albuquerquefixed
a dayfortheproclamation of thenew currency, and theprinci-
pal menof thepeoplemetAlbuquerquewiththeCaptains, Fidal-
gos and Cavaliersof thefleetin thefortress to forma procession
throughthe town. The accountgiven of thisprocessionand
proclamation is so interesting and picturesque,that I give it
literally:
" Therewent first, in frontof all the people,one of the
principal Governors of theCitymounteduponan elephantwith
hiscastlecaparisoned withsilk,and carrying in hishandsa flag
of thearmsof theKing of Portugalupona longspear,and be-
hindhimwentall thepeopleon footon one side and theother,
as it werein procession ; and in the midstof thesepeoplethere
wenta Moormountedupon anotherelephant,likewisecapari-
sonedwithsilk,makingthe proclamation ; and behindthisone
camethetrumpets ; and afterthemthe Governors of theCity,
and all the Merchants,and principalmen thereof ; and at the
rearof this throngthere went Antoniode Sousa the son of
Joãode Sousa ofSantarém, and theson of Ninachatu,bothto-
gether upona large elephant,whichhad been kept for the
King'sownuse,withhiscastlecaparisoned withbrocadedcloths,
and theycarriedwiththema largequantityof gold,silver,and
*
copper coin,whichtheykepton throwingout overtheheads
ofall thepeopleat each publicationof theproclamationwhich
theMoormade. The crowdwas so greatthatthestreetscould
scarcelycontainit,and withmanysongsand blowingof horns,
accordingto thenativecustom,the people gave great praise
to AfonsoDalboquerqueforgivingordersfor this distribution
of moneyby theadviceand in accordancewith theopinionsof
theirnatives." (Vol. Ill, p. 141). Accountsof thisfirstmint
in Malaccaare also givenby Danvers(5), Vol. I, p. 230,and
Stephens( 15' p. 162.
Besidesthesetwomintsat Goa and Malacca, otherswere
established by the Portuguesein Ceylon,Cochin,Diu,Bassein,
Damaoand Chaul. The following are the mintmarksof six of
* Thisis probably an error: nocopper coinsofMalaccaareprevi-
ouslymentioned. Probably pewter coinsaremeant.
R.A.Soc.,No.39,1903
190 COINS FROM MALACCA.
thesetowns accordingto Da Cunha(4), part1, p. 273 ; part3

p. 202 ; part4, p. 21.
G or G- A Goa
M or M- A Malacca
С- LO Ceylon
D Damao
D or D- О Diu
В Bassein
FinallytheletterA whichis foundon some coins,is sup-
posed to stand for 'Asia' (see Da Cunha,part1, p. 271), but
'Albuquerque'has also been suggested.
Da Cunha, the firstauthorityon this subject,alludes
to the many difficulties which the study of the coins
issued by these mints presents,he statesthatthecoinswere
issued by the viceroys or even by the officers
of the mint in the most capricious fashion,that they
frequentlybore effigiesand legends whichhad no con-
nectionwhateverwith the reigningmonarchsof the periods
whentheywere issued,that some of themwerestruckyears
afterthekings,whosebuststheybore,had ceased to live (4,
partI, p. 267). Da Cunhacontinues : "Butthesedifficulties are
increasedtenfoldby an absolutewantof examplesof theearly
periodsof the Portugueserulein India,theirplace being but
inefficientlysuppliedby somewritten reportsand private
official
memoirs. The coinsoftheseventeenth and eighteenth centuries
are notonlyscarce,buteven thewritten documents relatingto
themare rareor deficient."To Valentýn (16) theyseemto have
beenentirelyunknown. Millies (i£), p. 140,says: "Un des
monuments mêmede la victoiredu grandAlfonsoď Albuquer-
que, la monnaiequ'il fitfrapper à Malaka,a tellementdisparu,
que nous n'avons nullepartpu en découvrirun exemplaire."
Birch(£), in a footnoteto Albuquerque's'Commentaries,' Yol.
II, p. 130, refersfor descriptions of the earliestPortuguese
coinstertheworksof De Faria (6) and Fernandes(8) and states
that"the coinsthemselves are so rarethattheymayalmostbe
describedas no longerextant,"and thatthose writershad not
figuredanyof them. I have not been able to see the works
of De Faria and Fernandes, butI am glad to say thatthecollec-
tionunearthed in Malacca does containsome of those earliest
Brandi
Htraifcs
Jour.
coins,in factsomeof themmaybe theidenticalspecimens which

Albuquerquethrewout over the heads of the admiring crowd
duringhisprocession and theproclamation of the new coinage
ni Malaccain 1511.
The oldestspecimensare threecoinsin excellentcondition
belongingto the reign of King Emmanuelwho was reigning
whenMalaccawascaptured. Theirdiameter is 30 mm.= lT3ffin.,
theirweight10.3 to 10.8 grammes,and they are probably
bastardos. Theybear on the obversethe Portuguesecoat-of-
arms,andaroundit theinscription :
EINAIMVEL: R: P: ET: A: DOVINE-
Thesecondandfourth lettersof thefirstwordare inverted,
and thelastword,consisting of fiveor six letters,is lessdistinct
thanthe rest. It mightstandforDOMINE. The meaningof
theotherlettersis of course'EmanuelRex Portugaliœ et Algar-
biorum.Tbe Algarves werefirstconqueredby the Portuguese
about1188,andtheirnameis stillmentioned on the coinsof the
presentday. The reverseof the coin bears the sphere,the
"device of theKing D. Manuel,"likethe coinsstruckat Goa.
The deviceof thesphere,by theway,is usedas a symbolof the
gloriousworld-wide conquestsofPortugal(see pl. I, figs.2 and2a).
Albuquerque diedoffGoa on Dec. 16th1515,andKing Em-
manuelin 1521. Fromthe reignof thenextking,JohnIII,
1521-1557,betweenfifty and sixtycoinsare in the collection.
The firstkind,probablytheSoldo(size 24mm.= in; weight
3.2 to 3.9 grammes), is of a veryclearstamp,bearingon theob-
versea cross,and aroundit theinscription
IOA:III: POR: ET: AL: R.(
i. e. IoannesIII Portugaliaö et Algarbiorum Rex,on thereverse
the usualsphere. This tin coin therefore talliesexactlywith
thedescription of the gold,silver and coppercoins struckat
Goa,whichboreon theone side "a crossof theOrderof Christ,
ontheothera sphere - the deviceof theKing D. Manuel." Of
thiscointhereare onlythreespecimens (pl. II, figs.9 and 9ft)
Anotherkind,of whichthereare fifteenspecimens, resem-
blesthislastinall detailsexceptthatit is of a muchrudermake
and thatthecrossis slightlydifferent : thus
R.A.Soc.No.39,1903.
Ofa smallersize of thiscoin,possiblytheDinheiros, there

are aboutfortyspecimens, some in excellentcondition. Size
l§mm= Jin; weight2 to 2.3 grammes. The obverse bears
aroundthecrosstheinscription
IOA: III: POR: ET: AL.
The reversehas thesphere(pl. II, figs.10 and 10e).
Thereare somecoinswhichon theobverserounda coat-of-
armsmerelybeartheinscription.
IOANNES.R. P. ET. AL. D. &,
i. e. IoannesRex Portugaliaeet Algarbiorum Dei Gratia,andon
thereversethe sphere. Althoughnot clearlyassigned to the
reignofJohnIII, stillthereis no reasonabledoubtthattheytoo
belongto histime,and notto thatof JohnIV, 1640-1656,dur-
ingthesecondyearof whosereignMalacca was lostto thePor-
tuguese,norto thetimeofJohnV, 1706-1750. Thereareabout
twentyspecimensof it,but mostof themin a very indifferent
condition. Size 24 mm.= in; weight6.3 to 6.4 grammes,
(pl. II, figs.8 and 8a).
A smallercoin,of whichtherearetwospecimens, hasonthe
obversea cross,with the lettersI S M A in thefouranglesof
thecross,and on thereverseagain the sphere. These letters
4
probablystand for loa!ines, Malacca/ shewingthatthecoin
was struckat Malacca duringthereignofa KingIoannes,prob-
ablyagainJohnIII. The crossis verylikethecrosson certain
coinsfigured by Da Cunha(part 1, pl. I, figs3, 4 and 7) fromthe
mintsofGoa andDiuand belonging apparently totheeighteenth
century. Size 17.5 mm.= }| in; weight3.8 to 3.9 grammes
(pl. II, figs.13 and 13ft).
Belongingprobably to thereignof thenextking,Sebastian,
1557-1578,thereare six specimens of a largecoinwhichhas on
thereversethetwo lettersS. B. withthreecrossedarrowsbe-
tweenthem, andonthereversethecoat-of-arms.TheS. probably
standsfor'Sebastian',and the letterB. may stand eitherfor
Jour.Straits
Branch
coins from Malacca. 193
for'Bassem,'one of the minttowns,or for'Bastardo/thename

ofthelargesttincoin. Thearrowsare symbolic ofthemartyrdom
of St. Sebastianafterwhomthekingwas called. Thesize of the
coinis 30 mm.= 1T3T in; weight11.3to 11.9grammes (pl. I, figs.
4 and 4a).
Another coin,whichveryprobably alsobelongsto thisreign,
bears on theobversethe letters В and A, with threecrossed
arrowsbetweenthem,and onthereversethesphere. The coin
is too smallfortheletterВ to standfor'Bastardo/and it is pro-
bablythemintmarkof Bassein,whilstthe letterA may stand
eitherfor'Asia'or 'Albuquerque' (see above p. 190). The thflee
crossedarrowsshowthatthecoinwas struckduringthereignof
Sebastian,likethepreviousfcoin,and the two dotsabove them
probablyindicateits value in dinheiros. Eight specimens were
found: size 17 mm.= ^ in; weight3.5 to 3.7 grammes(pl. II,
figs.12 and 12a).
The coinpictured onpl. I, fig.1, of whichthereis onlyone
specimen,was probablystruckat Goa, as its obversebears a
deviceverylikethewheel,thesymbolof themartyrdom of St.
Catherine, thepatronsaintof Goa. Thiswheel is oftenfound
on coins struckat Goa, as it commemorates the conquestof
Goa by thePortugueseon St. Catherine'sDay,November25th,- ^
1510. Its reverseis entirelysmooth. Size 27 mm.= lTlff in.;
#
weight8.9 grammes.
A small coin,represented by fivespecimens,showson the
obversea coat-of-arms, and on thereversea ship,butno inscrip-
tion whatever. Size 18 mm.= | in. ; weight 2.2 to 2.4
grammes(pl. I, figs6 and 6ft).
A considerably largercoin shewson theobversethecoat-
of-arms, and on the reversethe sphere,but has no inscription
either. Thereare fivespecimens of it. Size 28 mm.= 1¿ in.;
weight10 to 11.2 grammes(pl. I, figs.3 and3a).
Finallythereis a coinrepresented by onlyone specimen
shewingon the obversea small coat-of-arms surrounded by
largeand deeplyimpressed Roman letters,and on thereverse
thesphere. Notwithstanding that the lettersare deeplyim-
pressedand onlylittle worn,they are so veryrough,thatmy
efforts to decipher themhave not beensuccessful.Size 24 mm.
= in; weight3.7 grammes (pl. II, fig.7).
E. A.Soc.,No.39,1908.
2. The Dutch,French and English Coins.

The Dutchduringtheirpossessionof Malacca (1641-1795>
and 1818-1824)nevermintedanycoinsespeciallyforthatplace,
butnaturallyusedthe coinage currentin Java. That island
has changedits rulersseveral timessince theend of thesix-
teenthcentury, viz :
(1594-1602: Compagnievan Yerrete Amsterdam.
(1597-1602: Compagnievan Yerrete Middlebur#.
1602-1799: VereenigdeOost-Indische Compagnie
1800-1807: BataviaiiRepublic.
1807-1811: FrenchGovernment.
1811-1816: BritishGovernment.
1816 : DutchGovernment.
Coinsbelongingto fouroftheseepochswerediscoveredat
Malacca.
The two Companiesvan Yerre seemto have issuedsilver
coinsonly,butnoneare in thecollection.
The Dutch East India Companyissued gold, silver and
coppercoins. The firstcoppercoins weremintedin 1644,but
in theMalaccacollectionwhichcontainsno gold or silvercoins,
theearliestcoppercoins date from1729. From the fact that
theearliestcoppercoinfiguredby NetscherandChijs(IS) dates
from1726 we may concludethatstill earlierones are rarein
numismatic collections.
The BatavianRepublicissuedgold,silverandcoppercoins,
butthecollectiondoes not containany. The RafflesMuseum,
however,possessesa coppercoinof that period. The obverse
showstheDutch coat-of-arms consistingof a crownedshield
enclosing a lionrampart, withthe figures5 and to theright
and left of the shield respectively.The reverse bears the
inscriptionINDITE BATAV. 1802.
. The French Government issued silver and copper coins,
and two of thelatterwerefoundat Malacca.
The BritishGovernment issued gold, silver,copper and
lead coinsduringits occupationof Java,buttheMalacca collec-
tioncontainednone of them. The RafflesMuseum,however,
possessessilverRupeesof theyears1812 and 1816,halfRupees
of 1813,copper Stuiversof 1814,halfStuiversof all theyears
Jour.
Straits
Branch
1811to 1815,copperDuitsof the years1811 to 1813 and lead

Duitsof 1814.
The Dutch Government of Java has so far issuedno gold
coins. Thefirstsilvercoins,Guilders,seemto havebeen struck
in 1821, the first copper coins in 1817 or 1818. The
Malacca collectioncontainsfourcoppercoins.
In additionto coinscurrentin Javaalso someof thewell-
knowntokensissuedbyBritishmerchants andtradersinSumatra
werefound,further somecoinsstruckby theBritishEast Irtdia
Company forPenang,and finallya coinfromIndiaandonefrom
Holland.
(a). CoinsoftheDutchEast India Company {1602-1799.)
Most of thecoinsissuedby thisCompanybearthemono-
gram , formedofthelettersV. О. C., standingfor'Vereenig-
de Oost-Indieche Compagnie,'i. e. United East India Company.
1. Copper. One Duit.
Obv. Coat-of-arms consisting of a crownedshield con-
tainingtwolionspassant.
Rev. 1729.
See Netscherand Chijs,p. 103. No. 21 ; pl. IV, No. 2be
2. Copper. OneDuit. *
Obv. Coat-of-arms consisting of a crowned shield con-
tainingone lionrampant.
Rev.5$ 1730.
Exceptfor date similarto Netscherand Chijs,pl. Ill
fig.21'
Dated 1731.Otherwise similarto No. 1.
4. Copper. One Duit
Obv, Coat-of-arms withtwo lions rampant. Aroundit
the legend 4SP NOS IN DEO' (i. e. Spes nostra
inDeo).
Rev. 1732.
Exceptfordate similarto Netscherand Chijs,pl. IV,
No. 21d.
B.A.Soc.,
No.39,1903.

Obv. Coat-of-armswithtwo lions rampant.Aroundit
thelegend<SPES NOSTRAIN DEÒ' (written infull).
Rev. (Date effaced).
Copper. One Duit.
Obv.Coat-of-armswithone lionrampant ; no legend.
Rev. 5$ 1735.
Exceptfor date similarto Netscherand Chijs,pl. IV,
fig.22'
Date 1737. Otherwise identicalwithNo. 6.
8. Copper. OnehalfDuit.
Obv. Coat-of-arms consistingof a crowned shield
withoutlions. The shieldis divided by a diagonal
line,a bende,theupper and sinisterportionof the
shieldbeing argent,thelower and dexterportion
gule.
Rev. 0$ 1753.
See Netscherand Chijs,pl. IV, fig.22e.
d. Copper. OnehalfDuit.
Date 1754. Otherwise identicalwithNo/8.,
Obv. Coat-of-armsconsistingof a shieřd similar to
thatof Nos. 8 and 9, but supported on theleft and
rightby two rampantlions.
Rev. 1786.
Except for date similarto Netscherand Chijs,pl. IV,
fig.21®.
Obv. Coat-of-arms of a crownedshield,the
consisting
lowerhalf of whichcontains threehorizontal wavy
lines,theupperhalfa demi-lion.
Rev. 8$ 1786.
Except fordate similarto Netscherand Chijs,pl. IV,
fig.22b.
Dated 1790. Otherwise similarto No. 10.
Jour.Straits
Branch
13. Copper. Two Duits.

Dated 1790. Abouttwiceas largeas No. 12, butother-
wisesimilarto it.
14. Copper. OneDuit.
Obv. Coat-of-arms, ofa crownedshieldcon-
consisting
tainingtwo lionspassant.
Rev. Ьф 1792.
Ëxcept for date similarto Netscherand Chijs, plnIY,
fig.22°.
(6). CoinsofJava underFrenchRule{1807-1811.)
Obv. 'JAVA,1810'. Below thistheletter'Z.'
Rev. A monogram ofthetwoletters'L. N.' standingfor
Louis Napoleon.
See Netscherand Chijs,p. 112,No. 60 ; pl. VII, fig.60'
2. Copper. Two Duits.
Obv.«JAVA*. Date effaced.
Rev. 'L. N.'
(c). . CoinsofJavaunderDutchor BritishRule?

The Malacca collectioncontainsa coppercoin,probably
one Duit,of thefollowingdescription: .
Obverse: Coat-of-arms consistingof a crownedshielden-
closinga lionrampant, withthefigures'5' and to theright
and leftof theshieldrespectively.
Reverse:thelegendINDLE BATAV. 1816.
In 1816 Javawas handedbackbytheBritishto theDutch,
and as the coinbears a coat-of-arms used by the DutchEast
IndiaCompany throughout theeighteenthcentury, thereis no
reasonabledoubtthat the coinis of Dutch,notBritishorigin.
Coinsidenticalwithit,except for the date,wereissuedby the
BatavianRepublicpreviousto the Englishoccupation ofJava,
and by theDutchGovernment aftertheEnglishoccupation, and
theRaffles Museumcontainssuchcoinsoftheyears1802,1818,
1819,1821and 1824. But theMuseumalso containsa coinof
1815,thatis a coin struckin Batavia with theDutchcoat-of-
armsduringthetimeof the Englishrule, Therefore it is just
No.39,1903.
R.A.8oc.,
possiblethattheabove coinof 1816,foundat Malacca,mayalso

havebeenstruckunderEnglishrule. I cannotoffer anyexplan-
ationof this.
A coin of thiskind,but of thé year 1802,is figuredby
Netscherand Chijs,pl. VI, fig. 39. The figures'5' and 'Ty to
therightand leftoftheshieldrespectively are somewhatmys-
terious. Netscherand Chijs(p. 108) say thattheyare notable
tctofferanyexplanation of theirmeaning,noram I in a position
to do so.
(d). CoinsofJavaunderDutchRule(from1816).
1. Copper.¿ Stuiver.
Obv. A coat-of-arms consistingof a crownedshielden-
closing a lion rampant,with the figure¿ to the
rightand theletterS to the leftof theshield.
Rev. NEDERL. INDIE 1823.
See Netscherand Chijs,pl. IX, fig.85,
2. Copper. £ Stuiver.
Date 1826. Exceptforsize,date andthefigure¿ instead
of £,similarto No. 1.
3. Copper. One Cent.
Obv. The usual coat-of-arms enclosinga lionrampant
with'Г and 4Cť to therightand leftof the shield
» respectively.
Rev. NEDERL. INDIE 1838.
4. Copper. One Cent.
Date 1856. Identicalwith thecurrencyof thepresent
day.
(e). TokensoftheBritishEast-IndiaCompany
ofSumatra.
1. Copper. OneKeping.
Obv. The Company'scoat-of-arms, and around, in
Roman characters,the legend ( Islandof Sumatra,
1804/
Rev. The legend, in Malay characters,'Satu Keping,
1219.'
See Rodgers( Ц), Vol. II, pl. VIII, No. 12081; Ellis
(7) p. 9. No. 1: Atkins(/), p. 204, No. 24.
Jour.
Straits
Branch
2. (Jopper.One Keping.
Obv. A Bantam Cock, with the legend, in Malay
' Tanah '
characters, Malayu (i. e. theLand of the
Malays).
Kev. In Malay characters : ' Satu keping,1247/ (i. e.
1831A.D.)
See Rodgers(Ц)% Vol. II, pl. VIII, No. 12083; Millies
(11), pl. II, fig.23.
3. Copper. One Keping.
Obv. As in Xo. 2.
Rev. A starof sixteenpoints,withthelegend,in Bugis,
'The Land of the Bugis,One Keping,1250' (i. e.
1834 A. D.)
See Xetscher and Chijs.p. 188,Xo. 254 ; pl. XXVII, fig.
254.
(/). CoinsoftheBritishEast India Company struck for Penang.
1. Copper. ThreeKepings.
Obv. A heart-shaped shielddiagonallydividedintofour
sectionswiththelettersV. E. I. C. respectively (i. e.
UnitedEast India Company). The shield is sur-
mountedby thefigure*4' Belowthedate 1798.
Rev. 'Tîga Keping,1213' in Malay characters.
See Netscherand Chijs,p. 123,Xo. 100; pl. X,fig.100b.
2. Copper. Four Kepings.
Obv. The Company'scoat-of-armswith the legend
*East India '
Companyin Romanlettersaroundit.
Below,thedate 1804.
Rev. 1AmpatKeping,1211» ', in Malay.
See Xetscherand Chijs.p. 123,Xo. 99 ; pl. X, fig.99.
3. Copper. Two Kepings.
Obv.Smallerthan,butotherwise identicalwith. 2.
Rev. 4Dua Keping,J219/in Malay.
See Millies(22), p. 93, Xo. 14; pl. I, fig.14.
III. OTHER COINS.
Thereare two morecoins whichbelong to none of the
abovesections.
R.A.«oc.,No.39.1903.
1. A coppercoinoftheEastIndiaCompany, struckinthename
of Shah AlamII. The obverseshows an inscriptionin
Arab, the reverse in Bengali, Malay and Hindos-
tani. See Rodgers,Vol. II, p. 124,No. 12138; pl. VII,
No. 12138.
2. Copper. Two otuivers.
Thisis theonlycoinof European origin found in the
collection,comingfromZeelandin Holland.
Obv.The Dutch coat-of-arms consistingof a crowned
shield. The lowerhalfof theshieldhas threehori-
zontal wavy lines, the upper half a demi-lion,
thereforeexactlysimilarto the coat-of-armsof the
coinNo. 11 of the Dutch East India Companyde-
scribedabove(p. 196). The figure2 to theright
and the letter S to the left of the shield in-
dicateits value,two Stuivers.
Rev. The legend
ZEE
LAN
DIA
1730
Jour. Branch
Straits
LITERATURE}.
1. Atkins, James , Coinsand Tokensof the Possessionsand
Coloniesof theBritishEmpire.London,1889.
2. Birch, W. de Grat/,The Commentariesof the Great
Afonso Dalboquerque,Second Viceroy of India.
4 Vols. London(Hakluyt Society),1875-1884.
3. ' Crawford , John , A DescriptiveDictionaryof the Indian
Islandsand AdjacentCountries. London,1856.
4. Da Cunha , J. Gerson , Contributionsto theStudyofIndo-
Portuguese Numismatics. Journal, Bombay
Branch,R. Asiatic Society. Part 1, Vol. XIV,
pp. 267- 273, 1 pl.; part2, Vol. XIV, pp. 402-
417; part 3, Vol. XV, pp. 169-202,1 pl.; part 4,
Vol. XVI, pp. 17-73, 4 pis,(1880-1883).
5. Danvera , F. С., The Portuguesein India.2 Vols. London,
1894.
6. De Faria, ManoelSevering Noticias de Portugal. Lisbon,
1791.
7. Ellis, Lt. Col. H. Leslie, BritishCopperTokensof the
StraitsSettlements andMalayanArchipelago. Numis-
maticChronicle, ser.3.,Vol. XV, pp. 135-153,pl. VI.
8. Fernandes , M. В . L., (Title of Work?), Mem. Acad. Real
das Scienciasde Lisboa,1856.
9. Marsden , W., The Historyof Sumatra. 3rded., London,
1811.
10 . Numismata OrientaliaIllustrata. London,1869.
11. Millies, H. G', De Muntender Engelschenvoorden Oost-
IndischenArchipel. Amsterdam, 1852.
12 . Recherches sur les Monnaies des Indigènes
de ГArchipelIndien et de la PéninsuleMalaie.
La Haye, 1871.
13. Nttscher, E., and J. A. van der Chijs, De Muntenvan
Nederlandsch Indie. Batavia,1860 (?)
14. Rodger s. Chas. Catalogue of the Coins of the Indian
Museum.4 parts. Calcutta,1893-96.
15. Stephens , Я. Morse, Albuquerque(R. I.). Oxford,1892.
16. Valentýn , François,Oud en Niew Oost-Indien.5 Vols.
Dordrecht and Amsterdam, 1724.
E. A.Soc.,No.39,1903.
References to the Illustrations.

Plate I.
Fig. 1 seepage 193.
Figs. 2 and 2U „ 191.
Figs. 3 and 3tt „ 193.
Figs. 4 and 4a „ 193.
Fig. 5 „ 186.
Figs. 6 and 6a „ 193.
Plate II.
Fig. 7 see page 193.
Figs.8 and 8a „ 192.
Figs. 9 and 9ft 191.
Figs. 10 and 10a „ 192.
Figs. 11 „ 186.
Figs-12 and 12a „ 193.
Figs. 13 and 13a „ 192.
Str itsBranch
Jour.
STRAITS BRANCH, ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY,
JOURNAL39, PLATE I.
Tin CoinsfromMalacca*
STRAITS BRANCH, ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY,
JOURNAL39, PLATE II.
Tin CoinsfromMalacca«

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On a Collection of Coins from Malacca

I. THE ASIATIC COINS.

provedby certainaccountsin Albuquerque's Commentaries (#)*,

beforethe arrivalof the Portuguese. Their average size is

J j'o¿' i. е. Ч-'âdil(=the just)

Malacca was takenbythe PortugueseunderAlbuquerque

1510),Albuquerque" gave thewordto taketheroyalflag, and

shouldbe deliveredthereto be reminted.Whenthishad been

thesetowns accordingto Da Cunha(4), part1, p. 273 ; part3

coins,in factsomeof themmaybe theidenticalspecimens which

Ofa smallersize of thiscoin,possiblytheDinheiros, there

for'Bassem,'one of the minttowns,or for'Bastardo/thename

2. The Dutch,French and English Coins.

1811to 1815,copperDuitsof the years1811 to 1813 and lead

5. Copper. One Duit.

13. Copper. Two Duits.

(c). . CoinsofJavaunderDutchor BritishRule?

possiblethattheabove coinof 1816,foundat Malacca,mayalso

References to the Illustrations.

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