________________
MAY, 1913]
behind this coin currency. the addition of the penjuru.
THE OBSOLETE MALAY TIN CURRENCY
This table is practically that of Wilkinson, Dict., p. 153, s. v. tali, with
62 keping or dait ayam75
125
Sa (one) pěnjura Sa
piak or sa tali
Sa suku
250
500
jampal or dollar
1000
Satu wang I was told was 36 ke ping" and the piak, which seems to have been a Perak term, was equal to 3 wang. This equivalence is interesting, as it is not quite exact, being one kěping out in comparison with the above table.78 There were presumably no bullion brokers to call the coinage in those days. Wilkinson, (Malay Dict.) quotes Clifford's proverb, sa tali tiga wang juga, one tali, three wang too.79
Sa jampal Dua
99
Ringgit moriam
31
99
Another difference from Wilkinson, which also appeared was that the value of the wang had by no means been constant. It had been successively 1: 14, 1: 20, 1: 28, 1: 36. The change in the ratio had been effected by beat of gong.80 The Raja Muda, 81 who lives here, tells me he thinks the old record was lost in the trouble at the time of the Perak War, (1875).
39
Pa Lani said:"wang tiada ubah, naik turun duit. Raja mahalkan sebab baniak duit Buggis masok, the wang did not alter, but the duit went up and down. The Raja raised the price because many duits entered from the Celebes."
33
"
Down the river they were not accustomed to a bimettalic currency, but they met the depreciation of copper by an alteration in the ratio. The copper unit was the duit or keping. First came the duit ayam, fowl' doit, which was Raffles' Bencoolen coin, and equal to it was the duit bunga tanjong, flower of the Cape' doit. This I think is the coin described by Dr. Hanitsch, (Collection of Coins from Malacca, Singapore, 1902, J. R. A. S., Straits Branch, No. 39, p. 198) as having a sixteen-rayed star (? palm) on the reverse. There was also the duit lorek. This is the keping with the shield and inscription Island of Saltana,sla a coin which Luering said he had seen with the inscription' Sumatra.'
The dollar had various names:
Animal currency.
33
dollar with the gun. of cloth.
33
33
kain běrkain tua gambar babi rial
13
31
The only specimen I got was that of a ringgit meriam. I am sending all my wang, the best of the copper coins and the only other gambar timah, tin model,82 that I have.
One of the old Friesian coins shows the lightning' in the lion's paw pretty well. The Dutch East India Company's duit chabang, doit with the fork,, latterly equalled the or dinary duit ayam, 'cook' doit, but formerly in Toh Bongko's time, say 1850, ten of these equalled one wang,83
39
$3
127
covered with cloth. old.
with (picture of a) pig. real (Sp. dollar).
"Fowl' doit, or cash.
17 See Maxwell, Manual of Malay Lang., p. 142.
10 This would give 108 köping to the piak or tali.
30 i. 6., successively the number of köping to the piak rose from 49 to 70, 98 and 126, by administrative order.
51 Heir Apparent.
16 Double.
126 köping to the piak in place of 125.
31a See ante, p. 126. Giving yet another ratio of 85 keping to the piak.
