VOC COCHIN BAZARUCO

The bazaruco was a low-denomination coin inherited by the VOC from the Portuguese, who had introduced the denomination at Cochin on the Malabar Coast generations earlier. When the Dutch seized Cochin in 1663, they retained the name and the concept — practical administrators, they kept what already worked in local trade. These tin pieces circulated almost exclusively within the Cochin bazaar economy, never intended for export or settlement of Company accounts, which were conducted in silver.

Tin was sourced largely from VOC operations in the Malay world, making the coin a minor logistical node in a much larger commercial network. Production continued until the VOC's charter finally lapsed in 1795.