In 1405 Sultan of Mallaca, Parameshwara sent a mission to the Ming emperor of the Yung Lo period in China, who duly acknowledged him as the true ruler of Malacca and placed him formally under Chinese protection. Malacca took over from the crumbling Majopahit state as the dominant power of the southern region of southeast Asia. Trade flourished, however, between Malacca and China, and the business led to the establishment of Chinese trading depots in Malaccan territory. The traders brought their families, their retainers, their workers, and their slaves, and in no time (several decades) there was a large population of Chinese.
The Chinese settlers under admiral Zheng He's (1405-1433; also known as Cheng Ho) also brought with them their money - silver and gold ingots and tens of thousands of square holed copper cash, and these latter began to percolate out of the Chinese settlements and into the land of the Malays. As the 15th century progressed the expansive Ming dynasty reached a high point and began to stabilize, and then contract. Overseas trade diminished, and contact with the overseas Chinese trading communities stop as well.
Chinese cash are usually made of copper, but there's not much of the red metal in Malacca.There was an acute shortage of Chinese copper cash coin during that time. The local Chinese making tin cash coin as an alternative to china copper coin. So the copies were made of locally abundant tin. And copies is exactly what they are; the producers used year titles of the Northern Sung emperors three centuries back. This usage served a dual utility: for the originals of these coins, though 300 years old, were still the most common items in the East Asian money mix, and besides, it would be some what impolitic to copy the coins of the current dynasty.
It is also noted that none of the Mallaca tin cash coin can be found in China. They can only be found in Mallaca because of that time, mercant trader only bring back goods that they can sale in their country such as spices, nutmeg, elephant tusks, rhinoceros horn, medical product and exotic animals. If they bring back Mallaca tin cash coin to China, the coins would probably be treated as frogeries because they were not made of copper.
Here are some of the Chinese Tin Cash Coin used during that time:
Double Cash-ObverseObverse: Zheng He Yuan Bao.
Reverse: Fu Lai within an oblong counterstamp.
Edge: Plain.
Diameter: 31.5 mm.
Weight: 10.3 grammes.
Composition: Tin (78%) Lead (22%)
Mint: Malacca mint.
Double Cash-Obverse
Obverse: Yuan Feng Tong Bao.
Reverse: Chai within a square counterstamp.
Edge: Plain.
Diameter: 29 mm.
Weight: 8.2 grammes.
Composition: Tin (78%) Lead (22%)
Mint: Malacca mint.
Double Cash-Obverse
Obverse: Xi Ning Yuan Bao.
Reverse: Chai within a round counterstamp.
Edge: Plain.
Diameter: 30 mm.
Weight: 8.1 grammes.
Composition: Tin (78%) Lead (22%)
Mint: Malacca mint.
Condition: Scarce
Single Cash-Obverse
Obverse: Yuan Feng Tong Bao.
Reverse: Blank.
Edge: Plain.
Diameter: 22.5 mm.
Weight: 3 grammes.
Composition: Tin (76%) Lead (24%)
Mint: Malacca mint.
All the one cash coin are unifaced and they are divided into square and round holes and their weight are between 1.5 grammes-the lightest and 5.3 grammes-the heaviest. The double cash coins have square and round holes but they are divided into one counterstamp and two counterstamp on the reverse. The weight of the double cash coins are between 5.8 grammes-the lightest and 10.9 grammes-the heaviest. Normally the square hole type of tin cash coins has the counterstamp of the chinese character (Cai) and the round hole type of tin cash coin has the counterstamp of two chinese character (Fu Lai). It is believed that both the "Cai" and "Fu Lai" are the company trade names that produced the square and round holes tin coins.
Photo by: skydrivelive.com
Data source: Mallaca collection of coinage book, anythinganywhere
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