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1 Pagoda
| Issuer | Dutch East India Company (VOC) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1747-1784 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Highly stylized and degenerate frontal depiction of Vishnu in high relief, rendered in a crude but characterful native South Indian artistic tradition. The deity is shown with a broad face, prominent eyes, and an elaborate headdress flanked by scrolling ornamental elements. The body is depicted frontally with arms extended, adorned with granulated pellet decoration throughout. A curved stroke resembling a lazy 'J' appears in the field, a characteristic feature of Dutch India pagodas of this series. No legend or inscription is present. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | ND (1747-1767) - Gold .800 - ND (1767-1781) - Gold .769 - ND (1781-1784) - Gold .675 - |
| Additional information |
The VOC struck pagodas not as a colonial imposition but out of necessity — indigenous merchants along the Coromandel Coast refused to accept European coin types for trade settlement, and the Company had little choice but to mint denominations already trusted in local markets. The pagoda as a unit predated Dutch involvement in the region by centuries, circulating widely across South Indian temple economies and long-distance textile trades.
KM#22 was produced at the VOC's Tuticorin and Negapatnam facilities during a period when the Company's finances were deteriorating badly — the same decades that would ultimately lead to the VOC's bankruptcy and dissolution in 1799.