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1 Pitis
| Issuer | Malay peninsula |
|---|---|
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Cast |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Annular tin coin with a central circular perforation. The annular field bears a crudely rendered inscription in Javanese or related Indic script, arranged circularly around the central hole. The legends are weakly struck and partially illegible, consistent with the primitive casting techniques employed for Malay peninsula pitis coinage. The irregular flan exhibits the characteristic rough, uneven edge typical of cast tin issues from the region. |
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| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Mintage | ND |
| Additional information |
Tin coinage dominated small-denomination exchange across the Malay peninsula for centuries, fed directly by the region's extraordinary alluvial tin deposits — the same geological wealth that would later make Perak and Selangor targets of British intervention in the 1870s. The pitis circulated at the lowest rung of everyday trade, changing hands for single portions of rice or betel, and was produced by dozens of petty states and individual sultanates with no coordinating authority and no fixed standard.
Attribution of these pieces is notoriously difficult; many sultanates used near-identical dies, and the soft metal corrodes readily, obscuring what little distinguishing detail was struck in the first place.