Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Pitis
| Issuer | Sultanate of Siak |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 0.79 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Circular annular field bearing a continuous legend in degraded Javanese script arranged around the central round hole, reading 'Sultan Siak'. The characters, rendered in low relief, occupy the full width of the annular flan and display the rounded, cursive forms characteristic of late Javanese-derived script as employed on Sumatran tin coinage. The execution is somewhat crude, consistent with local cast production, and the flan edges are irregular. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Javanese |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The Sultanate of Siak Sri Indrapura, positioned along the Siak River in eastern Sumatra, issued tin pitis as small-denomination currency during a period when the Dutch East India Company and later the colonial Dutch administration were steadily encroaching on local monetary authority. Tin was the practical choice — Sumatra had access to tin through regional trade networks, and the metal was too low in value to attract the systematic melting that plagued silver issues.
Surviving examples are frequently corroded or poorly struck, a known characteristic of the type rather than a condition anomaly.