Lhevae Posted June 4, 2022 · Member Share Posted June 4, 2022 Thank you so much for all the additional information @TuckHard! I didn't even notice the star on the An Phap, good eye. Money, Markets, and Trade in Early Southeast Asia seems to be the kind of book I'm looking for. I will definitely get it when I have the opportunity. About the Pegu coins : I was told that in 2023 Kris Van den Cruyce will publish a new book on the lead and tin coins of Tenasserim (in the series of Numismatic Studies of the Numismatic Society of Diest, http://www.studiekring-numismatiek.be/). 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TuckHard Posted June 4, 2022 · Member Author Share Posted June 4, 2022 5 hours ago, Lhevae said: Thank you so much for all the additional information @TuckHard! I didn't even notice the star on the An Phap, good eye. Money, Markets, and Trade in Early Southeast Asia seems to be the kind of book I'm looking for. I will definitely get it when I have the opportunity. About the Pegu coins : I was told that in 2023 Kris Van den Cruyce will publish a new book on the lead and tin coins of Tenasserim (in the series of Numismatic Studies of the Numismatic Society of Diest, http://www.studiekring-numismatiek.be/). Wicks' works are definitely amongst the best, albeit outdated in some aspects, especially involving Sumatra/Srivijaya discoveries in recent years, but there truly is nothing current out there for that. Also glad to hear that someone is working on a new work for the tin/lead coins of the region! I'm excited to see what all may come out of there; hopefully many of the unread inscriptions may finally be understood. Many of the inscriptions of the Tenasserim are unread to my knowledge, and they seem to be a good quantity of different inscriptions as well! If I recall correctly, Robinson does try to decipher some of these coins but I am not sure to what degree it is accurate or comprehensive. Below is a map of the Tenasserim (Tanintharyi) region of present-day Myanmar/Burma, in the upper Malay Peninsula. To my knowledge the tin coins of Tenasserim are anonymous, I'm not sure if a mint site is even known. Here is an example of a Tenasserim coin from SARC bearing a Burmese legend in three lines. Someday hopefully I will be able to buy and share my own example here! See on acsearch.info, from Stephen Album Rare Coins Auction 35, Lot 1865 in 2019. This is a Robinson plate coin and sold for $280. TENASSERIM-PEGU: Anonymous, 17th-18th century, cast large tin coin (38.55g), Robinson-Plate 10.2/10.4, 62mm, severely stylized image of the "dragon on sea" resembling a floral design, with the waves portrayed as dots (22 dots in 3 rows) // 3-line Burmese legend, fantastic product, with just one tiny natural casting flaw, bold AU, RR. Although this is a relatively available Tenasserim large coin, it comes in a bewildering variation of the quantity and arrangement of the dots representing the ocean waves. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quant.geek Posted June 5, 2022 · Member Share Posted June 5, 2022 Here are a few from my collection that are actually Robinson plate coins: Tenasserim-Pegu: Anonymous (early 19th c.) Tin Token (Rob-pt.3, #18) Obv: Cock to left within circle, beads from mouth Rev: 2 clouds and what appears to be sylized Tibetan characters, perhaps imitating a late 18th or early 19th century Sino-Tibetan sho Tenasserim-Pegu: Anonymous (early 19th c.) Tin Token (Rob-pt.17, #4) Obv: bullock, man with plough and goad, small dots near border Rev: blank Tenasserim-Pegu: Anonymous (early 19th c.) Tin Token (Rob-pt.16, #15) Obv: cock to right with spurs Rev: blundered European text, interpreted by Robinson as DASP SOAMSST 10, with what might be a sword handle in center 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TuckHard Posted June 6, 2022 · Member Author Share Posted June 6, 2022 On 6/4/2022 at 9:32 PM, quant.geek said: Tenasserim-Pegu: Anonymous (early 19th c.) Tin Token (Rob-pt.17, #4) Obv: bullock, man with plough and goad, small dots near border Rev: blank Tenasserim-Pegu: Anonymous (early 19th c.) Tin Token (Rob-pt.16, #15) Obv: cock to right with spurs Rev: blundered European text, interpreted by Robinson as DASP SOAMSST 10, with what might be a sword handle in center Wow, what a collection! These are some really marvelous pieces, I don't think I've seen an identical example of any of these three types. Having a nice set of Robinson plate coins must be so neat, too! The middle ploughing oxen and farmhand is a really interesting and unique design. I wonder why that, of all things, was chosen! It seems quite a bit unlike any other Pegu tin/lead coin that I have seen. The blundered European text of the third one is also super interesting, I wonder if a proto-type for this might be found? Here is another interesting show of European influence on Burmese lead coins- the Burmese lead cross coins. They seem to be pretty rare and under-studied. I found these in the article Analysis of historical Burmese opium weights and lead coins – metal origin, alloys and surface coating by Robert Lehmann, Hartmut Mollat, Ingo Horn, Ekkehard Döhring, and Carla Vogt (see for free in full on Academia.edu). I have yet to see anymore surface from any sources. I uploaded the three examples and the relevant details to Zeno.ru (see Z#268864), but there are not all too many details known about them. The authors point towards a likely influence in the Portuguese tin coins issued in their colonial city of Malacca, taken violently from the Malacca Sultanate in 1511 AD. See the Portuguese Malacca coinage Zeno category for comparison. Spanish silver coins are also a possible influence, of course. One of the many mysteries of the region's coinages. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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