Catalog
Bazaruco
| Issuer | Portuguese Colonial Administration of Ceylon |
|---|---|
| Year | 1597-1655 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | Armillary sphere depicted centrally, rendered in a bold and simplified style with intersecting lines forming the globe's meridian and latitude bands, and a diagonal band representing the ecliptic or equator crossing the sphere. The design is enclosed within an irregular raised rim consistent with hammered fabric. The armillary sphere was a principal emblem of the Portuguese Empire, widely employed on colonial coinage of this period. |
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| Mintage | ND (1597-1655) |
| Additional information |
The bazaruco was a denomination inherited by the Portuguese from pre-colonial Ceylonese monetary practice — the name itself derives from the Arabic *bazar*, reflecting the Indian Ocean trade networks that predated European arrival. Portugal's colonial administration recognized that local commerce depended on small-denomination copper coinage and continued issuing it rather than imposing metropolitan monetary standards, a pragmatic concession to economic reality on the island.
Production spanned the slow erosion of Portuguese control in Ceylon, ending as the Dutch VOC completed its campaign to expel them — Colombo fell in 1656.