The pitis was Brunei's primary small-change currency for over two centuries, cast rather than struck — a production method inherited from Chinese cash coin traditions and common across maritime Southeast Asia. The tin-lead alloy was locally sourced, Brunei's interior having accessible tin deposits that made this a genuinely domestic coinage rather than one dependent on imported metal. Dozens of die varieties exist across the 250-year span, many attributable only broadly to sultanate reigns, and attribution remains contested among specialists.
The pitis was Brunei's primary small-change currency for over two centuries, cast rather than struck — a production method inherited from Chinese cash coin traditions and common across maritime Southeast Asia. The tin-lead alloy was locally sourced, Brunei's interior having accessible tin deposits that made this a genuinely domestic coinage rather than one dependent on imported metal. Dozens of die varieties exist across the 250-year span, many attributable only broadly to sultanate reigns, and attribution remains contested among specialists.