1 Fanam Dutch VOC

The VOC fanam was struck at the Company's Tuticorin and Negapatnam mints on the Coromandel Coast, adopting a denomination already deeply embedded in South Indian trade networks rather than imposing a European monetary unit on local commerce. The Dutch understood that Tamil and Telugu merchants trusted the fanam — not the guilder.

At 0.32 g, these required extraordinary precision from mint workers operating with crude equipment by European standards. Striking inconsistencies are endemic to the type and reflect local production conditions, not unusual handling.