Old coins of Portuguese Malacca 1557 - 1578

New Straits Times Tuesday, July 17, 2007
River dirt yields rich pickings
By : Jason Gerald John and Norfaisal Jahuri

Portuguese and Dutch era coins that Raffiee Mohd Najeer and his friends have dug up.

MALACCA: They are four men, growing RM500 richer by the day from the things they sell.
Things they have neither bought nor made, but scavenged.
They call themselves treasure hunters. The real McCoy.
And the treasures they seek are real enough: Old coins, bits and pieces of porcelain and other antiquities from the era of the Malacca sultanate as well as the Portuguese, Dutch and British colonial period.
Their raiding ground is a spot on the river bank of the Sungai Melaka near Jalan Kilang where a 30m-high pile of river dirt has accumulated, courtesy of the contractors beautifying the river.
Unlike the archaeologists and tomb raiders shown on TV, the four men, led by Raffiee Mohd Najeer, 37, are armed only with ladles and their method is drama-free. For the past few days, Raffiee and his friends have been climbing the mound of dirt to comb for treasure.
“Rain or shine, we are here. We saw the pile of sedimentation and decided to try our luck. We did not expect to hit jackpot,” said Raffiee.
“The first coin we found was from the sultanate era. The coin was well-preserved; the writings on it still visible. We sold it to an unknown collector.
“Since then, we have discovered coins from the Portuguese era, about 500 years old, and also those used by the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC in old-spelling Dutch), which are about 400 years old.”
The VOC was established in 1602, when the states-general of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia.
It was the first multinational corporation in the world and the first company to issue stock. It remained an important trading concern for almost two centuries until it became bankrupt and was formally dissolved in 1800.
“There are also unique coins the size of our 50-sen coin, but with a hole in the middle. Each has Arabic words inscribed, which I am unable to decipher,” Raffiee said.
He and his friends also collect old metal pieces and other antiques, which they sell to interested buyers.

Old coins of Portuguese Malacca 1557 - 1578

1st coin from the top of left:

Observe: Three cross arrows separated with letter "BA" (Bassien Asian)

Reverse: Armillary sphere.

Circa: reigned Sebastion I, King of Portugal "the Desired" was the 16th king of Portugal and the Algarves (June 11 1557 - August 8 1578)
2nd coin from the top of right:

Observe: Portuguese carrack "Nau"

Reverse: Crowned shield of Portugal.

Circa: reigned Sebastion I, King of Portugal "the Desired" was the 16th king of Portugal and the Algarves (June 11 1557 - August 8 1578)

3rd coin from the centre of down:

Denomination: Bastardo

Observe: Shield of Portugal, Reverse: Armillary sphere.

Circa: reigned Sebastion I, King of Portugal "the Desired" was the 16th king of Portugal and the Algarves (June 11 1557 - August 8 1578)

Discovered at the clearing and beautification projects of Melaka River since 2002 - 2007.

The Melaka Sultanate thrived on entrepot trade and became the most important port in Southeast Asia during the 15th and the early 16th century. Furthermore, Melaka was as a major player in the spice trade, serving as a gateway between the Spice Islands and high paying Eurasian markets. This is reflected by the Portuguese writer Duarte Barbosa who wrote "He who is lord of Melaka has his hand on the throat of Venice".

In April 1511, Afonso de Albuquerque set sail from Goa to Malacca with a force of some 1200 men and seventeen or eighteen ships. The Viceroy made a number of demands - one of which was for permission to build a fortress as a Portuguese trading post near the city. All the demands were refused by the Sultan. Conflict was unavoidable, and after 40 days of fighting, Malacca fell to the Portuguese on Aufust 24 1511.