Help identifying this Chinese Cash imitation? Central Java, Indonesia

Discussion in 'World Coins' started by TuckHard, May 21, 2019.

  1. TuckHard

    TuckHard Well-Known Member

    Hi guys! A friend found this Cash Coin lookalike in a small local coin shop in Central Java, Indonesia. I think he said that the village/city was called Patina but I cannot find anything similar online. It could have been a miscommunication as well. He said that he thought it may have been used in religious temples during the Buddhist or Hindu era, before Islam spread to Java. Has anyone seen or heard anything about anything similar?
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  3. medoraman

    medoraman Supporter! Supporter

    I would think its a Palembang tin pitis. That is what comes first to mind.
     
  4. TuckHard

    TuckHard Well-Known Member

    The style seems similar but the only coins that are in the cash coin style have totally different characters. Plus, all Palembang coins are uniface while this one has script on both. My buddy read it as Xiang Fu Yuan Bao.
     
  5. TuckHard

    TuckHard Well-Known Member

    Just to show some examples of Indonesian local cash coins, here are three types from my collection. Note that these are all from Palembang, Sumatra. The coin above in question likely came from Java.


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    The above coin reads "Shi Dan Li Bao" which translates to Sultan Li Poh. The sultan ruled Palembang around 1450-1470 and was of Chinese heritage. Sultan Li Poh is the father of the legendary Hang Li Poh, a princess who married Mansur Shah, of the Malacca Sultanate.



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    The above coin reads ". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ." which adds up to 16 dots total. Jokes aside, not much is known about the origin of this unique and interesting coin and it seems to be relatively rare. It is not listed it in Frank S. Robinson's "Palembang Coins" but I did find a category of it on Zeno.ru. Zeno commenters call it an imitation of ketengs of Surakarta and Jogjakarta, rather than a direct imitation of Chinese letters.



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    The above coin reads "Alamat Sultan" in Arabic. The coin is undated but surely came from the Palembang Sultanate, 1659-1821. I've chatter that places the coin from 1659-1800. Something interesting, out of the ten varieties Robinson lists, none have the three ornamental dots arranged in the triangle that can be found at the bottom. Looking online they are not very uncommon with some showing it. Strange that he could have missed such a relatively common variety like that.
     
  6. Muzyck

    Muzyck Rabbits!

  7. TuckHard

    TuckHard Well-Known Member

    Zeno is always my first place to check :D just wish they could open up registration. I did find this category on Zeno titled "立平之寶手 li-ping zhi-bao group of lead ritual tokens" that looks kind of close to the same barbaric crudeness, but the reverses are all plain or vastly different. My pal who bought it said that he had around 20 more so it doesn't sound like a unique coin.
     
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  8. Muzyck

    Muzyck Rabbits!

    That reverse does look a bit imitative of this Ch'ien-lung cash. Fairly common with tin coins from Indonesia and also Semirechie

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