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1 Keping Malayu
| Issuer | Malay Peninsula |
|---|---|
| Year | 1836 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Keping (1⁄400) |
| 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 | Arabic |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central field displaying a three-line Arabic inscription in Jawi script: the denomination numeral '١' (one) at the top, the word 'كڤڠ' (keping) in the middle, and the Hijri date '١٢٥١' (AH 1251) at the bottom, with eastern Arabic numerals employed throughout. A border of fine beads frames the entire design, consistent with the obverse treatment. |
| 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 |
The keping was the smallest denomination circulating across the Malay trading ports in the early nineteenth century, issued not by any central colonial authority but by individual sultanates and commercial interests filling a chronic shortage of small change. This particular piece dates to a period when the British East India Company's administrative grip on the peninsula was tightening but not yet complete, leaving a patchwork of local copper issues to handle petty trade.
The KM#Tn1 designation — Tn for "token" — reflects the ambiguous status of these kepings: functionally necessary, politically informal.