Item number: A1438

Year: AD 1837 (AH 1253)

Material: Tin

Size: 18.8 x 18.2 x 0.4 mm

Weight: 0.75 g

Provenance: Teutoburger Münzauktion GmbH 2023

This is a “Pitis” coin, minted in the year AH 1253 (AD 1837), during a time when the important port of Palembang on Sumatra had already been conquered by Dutch colonisers. The coin follows the traditional coinage format of its former Sultanate regime, using tin as its material. In Malay, the term “Pitis” means “thin” or “light.”

This coin follows a design inspired by the square-holed coins brought to Southeast Asia by Chinese traders or pirates engaged in long-standing trade with the region. The coin features a central round hole for threading. Around the perimeter, the inscription in Jawi script, commonly used in the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian Archipelago, reads “هذا فلوس في بلد ڤلمبڠ,” meaning “This coin was minted in the land of Palembang.” At the bottom of the coin, the Islamic year “١٢٥٣” (AH 1253) is indicated, corresponding to the Gregorian year AD 1837. This period marked the 12th year of Dutch conquest of the Sultanate of Palembang.

Palembang is an important trading port located in the southern part of Sumatra Island, facing the South China Sea. Prior to the Age of Exploration, its advantageous position as a seaport, along with the abundance of pepper and tin, attracted merchants from China, India, and the Arab world for trade. In AD 1511, following the Portuguese conquest of the neighbouring Sultanate of Malacca, many of the Malaccan nobility fled to Sumatra, accelerating the Islamisation of Palembang and other areas.

In AD 1659, the Sultanate with Palembang as its capital was established. In AD 1825, the Dutch East India Company, headquartered in Batavia on Java Island, successfully destroyed the Palembang Sultanate and incorporated it into its colonial rule.

物件編號: A1438

年代: 公元 1253 年 (回曆 1837 年)

材質: 錫

尺寸: 18.8 x 18.2 x 0.4 mm

重量: 0.75 g

來源: 條頓堡錢幣拍賣 2023

這是一枚回曆1253年 (公元 1837年)，彼時已經遭到荷蘭殖民者征服的蘇門答臘重要港口巨港，沿用其過去的蘇丹政權之錢幣形制，以錫為原料鑄造的「皮蒂斯」，在馬來語有「輕薄」的意思。

這一枚錢幣的形制，模仿跟東南亞地區進行悠久貿易的中國商人或海盜帶來的方孔錢，錢幣中間有一個用以穿繫的圓孔。錢幣周圍以馬來半島和印尼群島通行的爪夷文標示「هذا فلوس في بلد ڤلمبڠ」，意思是「這枚錢幣鑄造於巨港的土地」。下緣則標示錢幣鑄造的回曆年份「١٢٥٣」(1253)，相當於公元1837年，彼時是荷蘭征服巨港蘇丹國的第12年。

巨港是坐落於蘇門答臘島南部，面朝南中國海的一個重要商港。於地理大發現以前憑藉著優良的海港地位以及盛產胡椒和錫，吸引來自中國、印度和阿拉伯世界的商人前往此地貿易。公元1511年，隨著葡萄牙征服鄰近的麻六甲蘇丹國，許多來自麻六甲的貴族避居於蘇門答臘，加速了巨港等地的伊斯蘭化。

公元1659年，以巨港為首都的蘇丹政權成立。公元1825年，以爪哇島的巴達維亞為總部的荷蘭東印度公司成功消滅巨港蘇丹國，將其劃入自身的殖民統治。