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1/4 Bastardo - Manuel I
| Issuer | Portuguese Malacca |
|---|---|
| Year | 1511-1521 |
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| Currency | Pardau (1509-1580) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central device depicting the crowned royal arms of Portugal, showing the escutcheon with the five quinas arranged in cross formation, surmounted by a royal crown rendered in low relief. The shield is set within a plain inner field, with the partial legend PORTVG visible around the periphery. The die work is characteristic of colonial hammered coinage produced for Portuguese Malacca, with correspondingly irregular flan and somewhat weak strike typical of calin alloy issues. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | PORTVG (Translation: Portugal) |
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| Additional information |
Malacca fell to Afonso de Albuquerque in July 1511, and Portuguese administrators almost immediately faced the practical problem of supplying small change to a port city whose commerce ran on fractions too small for silver. The bastardo series was their solution — low-denomination tin-lead pieces struck for local bazaar trade, not for export or treasury use. The calin alloy itself was native to the region, already familiar to Malay and Chinese merchants who had used similar compositions for generations before the Portuguese arrived.
The quarter denomination is the smallest of the bastardo fractions and among the most difficult to attribute cleanly today, as die preparation was inconsistent from the outset.