Portuguese Ceylon's tanga coinage of the 1640s was struck at Goa under increasingly desperate conditions — the Estado da India was simultaneously fighting the Dutch in Ceylon and hemorrhaging territory across the Indian Ocean. The Colombo mint had fallen to the VOC in 1640, forcing production back to Goa. KM#13 and KM#14 represent distinct die varieties issued across this compressed window, distinguished primarily by differences in the cross arrangement and pellet placement.
Portuguese Ceylon's tanga coinage of the 1640s was struck at Goa under increasingly desperate conditions — the Estado da India was simultaneously fighting the Dutch in Ceylon and hemorrhaging territory across the Indian Ocean. The Colombo mint had fallen to the VOC in 1640, forcing production back to Goa. KM#13 and KM#14 represent distinct die varieties issued across this compressed window, distinguished primarily by differences in the cross arrangement and pellet placement.