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1/4 Kupang - Srivijaya of Sumatra
| Issuer | Srivijaya Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 680-1250 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Gold (Potentially an electrum mixture) |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | A single Nagari character 'Ma' (short for 'Massa') struck in incuse within the recessed field, occupying the central area of the flan. The letterform is rendered in an archaic Devanagari script style consistent with early medieval South and Southeast Asian epigraphy. The surrounding field is plain and unadorned, the irregular flan edge typical of the hammered technique employed throughout the Srivijaya coinage series. This inscription served as a denomination or weight indicator referencing the massa unit of account. |
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| Reverse lettering | म |
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| Additional information |
The Srivijaya polity controlled the Strait of Malacca at its height, extracting tolls from virtually every maritime trade route connecting the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea. These tiny gold fractions almost certainly facilitated small-value exchange within that commercial network rather than long-distance trade, where larger denominations and foreign specie dominated. The electrum question remains genuinely unresolved — assay results across known examples show inconsistent gold purity, suggesting either deliberate alloying or regional variation in source material.