Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
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!
Bazaruco
| Issuer | Portuguese Colonial Administration of Ceylon |
|---|---|
| Year | 1597-1655 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Copper |
| 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 |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The bazaruco was a denomination inherited by the Portuguese from pre-colonial Ceylonese monetary practice — the name itself derives from the Arabic *bazar*, reflecting the Indian Ocean trade networks that predated European arrival. Portugal's colonial administration recognized that local commerce depended on small-denomination copper coinage and continued issuing it rather than imposing metropolitan monetary standards, a pragmatic concession to economic reality on the island.
Production spanned the slow erosion of Portuguese control in Ceylon, ending as the Dutch VOC completed its campaign to expel them — Colombo fell in 1656.