Catalog
Pitis Kuching - Sultan Nassaruddin
| Issuer | Sultanate of Brunei |
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| Year | 1690-1710 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Central field displays a stylized cat-like creature in profile facing right, rendered in a primitive but distinctive local artistic style characteristic of early Bruneian coinage. The animal figure is depicted in full body, with exaggerated features and bold raised relief. The design is enclosed within a plain inner circle, itself surrounded by an outer border of raised pellets or dots forming a decorative rim. Floral or foliate ornamental elements appear in the upper right of the field, filling the space around the creature. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The "Pitis Kuching" — cat money — takes its name from the crude feline stamp punched into the surface, a mark associated with the Kuching region of Borneo during this period of Bruneian influence over northwestern Sarawak. Sultan Nassaruddin's reign saw Brunei at a late but still functioning peak of its regional trade authority, and these tin-lead pieces circulated as fractional currency in a maritime economy where Chinese, Malay, and local exchange networks overlapped in ways that no single monetary system ever fully controlled.