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1 Tanga
| Issuer | Portuguese Ceylon |
|---|---|
| Year | 1598-1621 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | 1 mm |
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| Obverse description | Portuguese Royal Arms rendered in a crude, stylized form typical of hammered colonial coinage; the crowned shield occupies the central field, displaying the characteristic Portuguese escutcheon with castles and bezants. The design is struck on an irregular planchet, resulting in partial definition around the periphery. No legible legend is present. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central field bears a stylized royal monogram composed of interlocking letters, flanked by the letters 'A' and 'T' in the field to either side. The monogram is rendered in a bold, angular form characteristic of Portuguese hammered colonial issues. The planchet is irregular, and the design shows typical weakness at the edges. |
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| Additional information |
The tanga was a unit of account inherited from pre-Portuguese coastal trade networks and only later struck as actual coin — Portuguese Ceylon's monetary system remained a patchwork of local custom and Lisbon's administrative ambitions for most of the sixteenth century. Ceylon's cinnamon monopoly was the real prize, and coinage was largely secondary to the spice infrastructure being built around Colombo. KM#7 spans a minting window of over two decades, meaning attribution to a specific governor's tenure is rarely possible without documentary evidence from the Estado da India archives.