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1 Tanga - Filipe III Malacca mint, M A
| Issuer | Portuguese Malacca |
|---|---|
| Year | 1635-1638 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | Gomes#F3 09.01 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Central field bears a large interlaced monogram composed of the letters A, T, D, and M in bold relief, representing the regnal and mint attribution formula. Below the monogram, the date 1635 is inscribed in the lower portion of the field. The design is enclosed within a beaded inner circle, with a partial dotted border visible around the outer periphery. The strike is typical of hammered production, with the irregular flan showing characteristic edge irregularities. The monogram style follows conventions common to Portuguese colonial coinage of Malacca under Philip III. |
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| Additional information |
Filipe III — Felipe IV of Spain — never visited his Asian territories, but the mints operating under his authority in Estado da India were grinding out small silver for a trade network that stretched from Goa to Nagasaki. Malacca had been a Portuguese possession since Afonso de Albuquerque seized it in 1511, and by the 1630s the city was under existential pressure: the VOC had been blockading the Straits intermittently since 1615. These tangas were struck in the final years before the Dutch siege of 1640–1641 ended Portuguese Malacca permanently.
The "M A" mint mark is the distinguishing feature that places this piece at Malacca rather than Goa.