DISCOVERY - HOARD OF MALAY STATES COINS FOUND AT TANJUNG PINANG, RIAU ISLAND, INDONESIA (PART 1)

Old coins and relics are known to have been found over the years in the Malay Peninsula (Malaysia) and Malay Archipelago (in this case Indonesia and southern Thailand) but not many involve discovery of a large quantity of items and not many are reported or made known to general public. Perhaps one of the most known discovery was the one at Tanjung Pinang around middle of 1980's.

Mohd. Kassim in his article in Saga Pertubuhan Numismatik Malaysia, 21 Anniversary 1968 - 1989, published in 1990 by Malaysia Numismatik Society shared his experience in having a first look at the items from the famous discovery that he described as a "numismatist's dream come true".

The findings according to Kassim fills a significant gap in the numismatic history of the Malay Peninsula. A new light was shed on how earlier coins were cast by the "lost wax" method, how coins were produced and how the technology developed.

The items found include:

• cockerel perched on ring (that Kassim attributed to 17th. century Kedah)
• varieties of animal currencies - roosters, fish, goats (sheep) and tortoises (that Kassim mentioned was used in Selangor and Perak)
• tampangs
  
• tin coins used in Palembang, Djambi and Kedah
• moulds of making "VOC" copper currency

According to Kassim many of the items found ready market in Singapore. Perhaps certain items were acquired by Muzium Negara, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia such as the above item in block image but most items are "lost" or tucked away in private collections. Approximately 25 years after their discoveries the fate of these fascinating items are not known.

Images of some of the items found at Tanjung Pinang, Riau, Indonesia will be included in a future post soon.