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JULY, 1913.)
THE OBSOLETE MALAY TIN CURRENCY
183
I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Logan of Singapore for several pieces, unfortunately badly preserved, which belong to the class of tra, or modern tin coins of Kedah. I will describe those of them which are the most distinct.
A round tin coin 51 with an irregular bole: diameter, 23 mill. ; weight, 1.85 grs. The obverse bears dar (sic) -u' l-aman (sic) balad Kedah; the country of Kedah, abode of peace. The reverse: tahan alif, 1894 (1809-10). The first and fourth words of the obverse and the second of the reverse are written contrary to orthography. Also if the word dar were not very distinct, one might read zarb A [struck at]. Moreover the second and the fourth figures of the date are not Very distinct on the coin, but nevertheless I think I can read the year 1224 by the accompanying definition tahan alif, the year a.
4. P. 138. One more piece of this state, 52 diameter 24 mill, and weight 150 grs., though of modern date, offers several difficulties in reading and explaining. I think I can read on the obverse: belanja balad (1) al-parlis qadah: sanat 1963, money of exchange of the country of Perlis, Kedah : year 1262 (1846). On the reverse is seen a lotus flower of five petals. The Malay word belandja [bülanja], revenue, expense, is moreover in use in the Malay Peninsula to indicate money of exchange. But the third word with the [Arabic] article seems to me so peculiar, as to leave me in doubt, I have found no explanation of it. I have never seen the name Perlis written in Malay characters, but as it is the name of one of the principal towns, which has often been the capital of the State, this name seems to me nost probable.
5. P. 145. We have not been able to discover any coins which could with certainty be attributed to the other small States in the Southern part of the Malay Peninsula, but we must speak here of a class of tin coins, which though very simple in form, offer several difficulties in determining them. These pieces do not usually bear anything except some titles, either on one face or divided between the two sides; sometimes with, often without, a date. - A large round pieces of this kind is to be found at the Musée Royal de La Haye. On one side is the whole legend--maliku' l-adil khalifu 'l-muminin sanat with two figures of a date-13: King [by grace] of the Just [God], the chief of the believers, year--13. From the appearance of the piece I should think that it is not of ancient date and that the year 1213 H. (1798-9) must be meant. Some others, of a little smaller size, in the same collection, appear to be of the same manufacture, but have simply the title without date:--khalifu' l-muminin, chief of the believers. In the Musée de Gotha there is to be found a fine example, and two less well preserved specimens in the British Museum, of an octagonal form, without a hole, [but] with the same legend and no date: on the obverse maliku' l-adil; on the reverse khalifu' l-munimin.
6. P. 147. A learned Malay, who has published several works in his own language, Abdu'llah, son of Abdu'l-kadir, made, in 1838, a voyage from Singapore to Kalantan on the East Coast of the Peninsula. A judicious observer, he noted the most remarkable things he saw, and to please the English he published an account of his voyage in Malay at Singapore in 1838.56
... Speaking of the State of Trengganu, or Trangganu, on the East Coast, which formerly acquired a certain fame and played, even in the past century, a fairly great part in the political relations of the Peninsula, but which is now fallen into profound degradation, he mentions, among
51 Plate XXII. fig. 235.
52 Plate XXII. No. 236-7. 53 Plate XXIII. No. 249.
(Plate XXIII. No 251-2.] Perhaps the reading should be rather Malik-al-'adil, the just king, or Milki-'. adil, legal tender.
55 Bahwa ini Kesal pu-layar-an Abdullah, ben Abdul-kadir munshi. Deri Singapura ka-Kalantan. Turkarang alih-nya. Singapur, 1254-1838. (Published also in Malay characters ) M.Ed. Dulaurier bag rendered a great servioe by making the work better known through his Frenoh tranglation of the Malay text, publiebed under the title :- Voyage d'Abd-Allah ben Abd-el-Kader de Singapore & Kalantan : Paris, 1850.
