This was being discussed in another thread so I decided to post mine. I was working on diversifying my Portuguese colonial collection recently. There are a wide variety of coins from Portuguese India and my collection is by no means comprehensive, but here's what I have. The first is an 1831 60 reis. The rest should be easier to identify.
Denomination: Dinheiro Metal: Tin (cast) Ruler: Joao III, (1521-1557); Portuguese India Mint: Malacca Obv.: Portuguese Cross; I-S/M-A in quadrants (IoanneS MalaccA) Rev.: Astrolabe; Armillary Sphere. Diam.: 17.4 mm. Weight: 4.01 gr. Attrib.: SS-J12
That cross is also called the Portuguese Cross. If you've ever watched that Oak Island treasure hunt show, it comes up often and is discussed a lot.
Enjoyed seeing your Portuguese India coins. The colonial history of India fascinates me -- Portuguese, French, British, Danish.
I've never heard of a Danish presence there. I'll have to look into that. I'm really interested in the history of exploration and colonization. I've read a lot about it but there are so many examples that we consider insignificant today that are interesting. Like the Swedish effort to colonize North America, or the Scottish attempt at a South American colony. It's amazing the rate that the early colonists died just about everywhere too.
