Tin pitis circulated widely across the Malay peninsula as the lowest denomination in daily trade, used primarily for small market transactions where heavier silver coinage was impractical. The metal was locally abundant — the Malay states sat atop some of the richest tin deposits in the world, which made minting in tin an economic rather than a compromised choice. Production methods were rudimentary, with many issues cast rather than struck, resulting in considerable variation in flan shape and surface texture across examples of nominally identical types.
Tin pitis circulated widely across the Malay peninsula as the lowest denomination in daily trade, used primarily for small market transactions where heavier silver coinage was impractical. The metal was locally abundant — the Malay states sat atop some of the richest tin deposits in the world, which made minting in tin an economic rather than a compromised choice. Production methods were rudimentary, with many issues cast rather than struck, resulting in considerable variation in flan shape and surface texture across examples of nominally identical types.