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1 Fanam
| Issuer | Ceylon (1597-1972) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1814-1815 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse displays the word 'TOKEN' arranged radially around a central raised pellet set within a small incuse circle, mirroring the cruciform layout of the obverse, with individual letters placed in the four fields created by radiating lines. The lettering is similarly rotated within each quadrant of the cross-like arrangement. A plain border frames the design on this diminutive silver token coin. |
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| Reverse lettering | TOKEN. |
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| Additional information |
The Ceylon fanam occupies an awkward administrative moment — the British had formally taken the island from the Dutch in 1796, but were still sorting out what a coherent colonial coinage should look like. These small silver pieces continued a denomination inherited from earlier VOC and indigenous South Asian monetary practice, where the fanam had circulated across trade networks stretching from Ceylon to the Malabar Coast for centuries before any European power arrived.
The series was short-lived under British administration. By the 1820s, rationalization of Ceylon's coinage pushed out fractional survivors like this one.