Catalog
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
| Issuer | Penang |
|---|---|
| Year | 1805 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin, Chinese |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain, unadorned field with the characteristic rough, pitted surface typical of cast tin coinage from early nineteenth-century Penang. No devices, legends, or inscriptions are present; the reverse is entirely blank, consistent with the primitive cast technology employed for this issue. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Penang — ceded to the British East India Company by the Sultan of Kedah in 1786 — required a local copper-substitute coinage almost immediately, as imported specie drained out as fast as it arrived. Tin, abundant in the Malay Peninsula, was the obvious solution. These large-format tin pieces were struck in London and shipped out, a logistical reality that introduced significant lag between authorization and circulation.
The 1805 issue falls within the earliest phase of Prince of Wales Island coinage before the presidency's monetary arrangements were absorbed into the broader Straits Settlements framework decades later.