On a collection of coins from Malacca
R. Hanitsch’s 1903 article documents a remarkable hoard of coins recovered from the foreshore near the mouth of the Malacca River and deposited in the Raffles Museum. The collection spans approximately four centuries of European occupation—Portuguese, Dutch, and English—and its most significant contribution is the identification of tin coins struck by Albuquerque’s mint in Malacca in 1511, specimens that appear to be unique in world numismatic collections.
Summary
The coins were discovered during excavations for a channel from the river mouth seawards, scattered in a submerged bank containing household detritus, broken crockery, and old ironware. W. Egerton, then Resident-Councillor of Malacca, collected them and presented the assemblage to the Raffles Museum. Hanitsch, writing with the assistance of Captain R. P. Jackson and Mr. R. J. Wilkinson on the identification of Arabic-inscribed pieces, organises the collection into Asiatic and European groups.
The Asiatic section comprises roughly 150 tin coins bearing Arabic inscriptions, some of which may predate the Portuguese arrival. Hanitsch demonstrates, through Albuquerque’s Commentaries, that the Sultanate of Malacca possessed a native pewter coinage (the caixes) before 1511, contradicting Millies’ assertion that no such numismatic monument survived. A few corroded Chinese cash complete this group.
The European section is the article’s centrepiece. Hanitsch identifies Portuguese tin coins from the reigns of Emmanuel (1495–1521), John III (1521–1557), and Sebastian (1557–1578), matching them to the denominations—dinheiro, soldo, and bastardo—described in Albuquerque’s account of the 1511 mint. He argues that some specimens may be the very coins scattered over the crowd during the proclamation procession. The Dutch and English material consists of copper coins current in Java (VOC, Batavian Republic, French, and post-1816 Dutch issues), British East India Company tokens from Sumatra and Penang, and a single Zeeland coin of 1730.
Key Findings
- The Portuguese tin coins from Malacca (1511) are probably unique: the British Museum holds none, and enquiries in Lisbon and elsewhere yielded no other known specimens (p. 181).
- Albuquerque’s 1511 mint at Malacca was the only European mint ever established in the city; it struck pewter (not copper, as at Goa) to exploit the local tin supply, with three denominations: dinheiro, soldo, and bastardo (pp. 186–187).
- Three coins in excellent condition bearing the legend “EWANVEL: R: P: ET: A: DOVINE” (Emmanuel Rex Portugaliæ et Algarbiorum) date to the reign of King Emmanuel and are likely bastardos of 30 mm diameter and 10.3–10.8 g weight (p. 189).
- A coin bearing the letters “I S M A” in the angles of a cross is interpreted as “Ioannes, Malacca,” providing direct mint-mark evidence for the Malacca mint during John III’s reign (p. 190).
- The collection contains no perforated tin coins of the type still current in Trengganu and Kelantan, and no gold or silver coins of any European power (pp. 183, 192).
- The Dutch never minted coins specifically for Malacca; all Dutch material in the collection is Java currency, the earliest copper coin dating from 1729 (p. 192).
Conclusion
Hanitsch’s definitive takeaway is that the Malacca hoard fills a critical gap in Indo-Portuguese numismatics: it provides the first physical evidence of the coinage Albuquerque ordered struck in 1511, a coinage that prior authorities—Da Cunha, Millies, Birch—had declared effectively lost. The collection transforms a textual description in the Commentaries into tangible artefacts, confirming both the existence and the typology of the earliest European mint in the Malay world.
Context
- The coins were presented to the Raffles Museum (now the National Museum, Singapore) by W. Egerton, Resident-Councillor of Malacca, following their recovery during channel-digging operations at the river mouth (p. 181).
- The article was published in the Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, reflecting the institution’s role in documenting the material heritage of the Straits Settlements and the Malay Peninsula during the colonial period.