Damão (Daman) operated as a secondary mint within Portuguese India, subordinate to Goa, and its output was tightly controlled by the Estado da India administration. This particular issue was struck for circulation in Baçaim (Vasai), a fortified port north of present-day Mumbai that served as the administrative capital of Portuguese territories in the Northern Province — a jurisdiction distinct from Goa and with its own fiscal pressures. Baçaim had been under Portuguese control since 1534 following a treaty with the Sultan of Gujarat.
The Gomes reference splits this type across two variety numbers, J5 51 and J5 52, distinguished by die differences that remain a point of ongoing debate among specialists in Indo-Portuguese coinage.
Damão (Daman) operated as a secondary mint within Portuguese India, subordinate to Goa, and its output was tightly controlled by the Estado da India administration. This particular issue was struck for circulation in Baçaim (Vasai), a fortified port north of present-day Mumbai that served as the administrative capital of Portuguese territories in the Northern Province — a jurisdiction distinct from Goa and with its own fiscal pressures. Baçaim had been under Portuguese control since 1534 following a treaty with the Sultan of Gujarat.
The Gomes reference splits this type across two variety numbers, J5 51 and J5 52, distinguished by die differences that remain a point of ongoing debate among specialists in Indo-Portuguese coinage.