Tin Animal Money from Malacca

Ben Chiew
October 16, 2001
      In the early 1400, Malacca was a bustling port handling many ships that ply the East Asia and the Western world. Malacca was the "half way house" where traders from the east would dock, replenish and trade with traders from the west. Malacca was located in a strategic location offering safe and calm waters protected by Straits of Malacca. It was there that the world trading of spices, silk etc took place. In short, it was a "melting pot". Everyone wanted to take control of Malacca. Malacca has a very rich cultural heritage from days of just local natives & Malays, Portuguese came in 1511 and there was the Dutch, British, Japanese and later independance.

      The history of this tin animal money started in the wonderful days of the Malacca Empire. After the cowrie shells, some form of money had to be used as Malacca was the trading port. It was discovered that the surrounding area had abundance of tin ore. Tin was considered as a precious metal and the Chinese believed that tin brings luck, prosperity and wards off evil spirits. At the entrance of many Chinese houses, tin is used to line the walls and columns. This is believed to bring luck to the inhabitants of the house. Tin was chosen as the medium as tin was considered precious, malleable & soft thus easily shaped and tin is widely accepted. This gave birth to the "Tin Animal Money".

      This form of money, made by Chinese, comes in a few denomination, the largest weighing 1 kati1 and the smallest 1/20 kati. The full denomination are 1 kati, 1/2 kati, 1/10 kati and 1/20 kati. The rarest of them are the 1 and 1/2 kati. Various animal shapes have been found. To date, four distinct animal which is the tortoise, fish, rooster (chicken) and crab (very rare). Only the tortoise come in 1 & 1/2 kati. The others do not have the larger denomination. It was found that each animal comes in several designs and variants. It incorporates design from the Ming Dynasty, brought by the Chinese settlers that came from China. So trade was effected using this form of medium of exchange. It must have been a heavy task for the rich to carry around 20 katis of tin if he wanted to buy something big.

1/20 kati 1/10 kati 1/2 kati 1 kati
Tortoise




  • unepigraphic


  • Fish





  • Ruster




  • Crab




  •       This type of coins were only known to us lately in the last 30years. It laid hidden for almost 600 years,unknown to the modern civilisation.They were first discovered by fisherman in an island not far off the coast of the mainland, "Pulau Besar". Over the last 2 decades, a few more were found when excavation works took place in town. Several sites were identified and it was discovered that people lived near to the beach area as the tin money were found there.

    What makes it very rare?
          When the Portuegese conquered Malacca in 1511, like all new government today, they seized all tin animal money and brought in their own. Most were melted down to make their tin Bastardos, dinheiro etc. A new currency was in place. Some that we see today were the ones that got discarded into the sea or rivers. Some were also buried but getting to them is a needle in a haystack. Even if they knew where they were, buildings probably sit on the top of them. The tin animal money is so rare that the local muzium has only a few disfigured items on display.

    Fakes & How to check them?
          Since the item is so rare, many counterfeitors have tried to reproduce these coins. I have seen many that tries to pass off as genuine. There are two simple test that you can deploy:

          1) Visual Inspection
          Look for corrosion marks. Tin that sits buried under the seabed or soil will be corroded over the 600 years period. All corrosion marks are individual and no 2 pieces are alike. Look for the uneven corrosion marks especially on the edges. Like the walls of old buildings, you will find bits of concrete breaking off especially at the edges. The marks should be uneven and have different colored tones.It is generally grey with a whitish coating. Fresh tin is dark in color.

          2) Scratch Test
          Fresh tin is soft and you can scratch the surface. On the contrary to a genuine tin animal money, it has been sitting under the seabed for 600 years.The surface has harden over the centuries, so scratch any of the surface with a key or something sharp. Apply just enough strength for the test. If the surface scratches off, it is probably a recently fabricated item.

    Investment
          Malacca Tin Animal Money is an excellent investment opportunity. Not only for the artistic and esthatic value, it has a heritage, rare and cheap. It is known to the world but no one knows how to get it. It is not something that you can buy in unlimited quantity. What you see in eBay is from my own collection, some passed down by my ancestors.

          Please feel free to contact me on benchiew@pd.jaring.my should you need more info. Or else, you are encouraged to get more info and pictorial at http://www.collectibles-museum.com/htm_original/coin_introd.htm. Please take into account that tin animals like crocodiles, rams and certain roosters, shown at the above link, are made by the malays. They do not have the consistancy of the items made by the Chinese and shown below.


    Note 1:
    1 kati = 600 grams
    1/2 kati = 300 grams
    1/10 kati = 60 grams
    1/20 = 30 grams

    1/20 kati
    click image to enlarge

    Tortoise
    1/20 kati
    Chinese characters Xiang -
    good luck, good omen; happiness
    click image to enlarge

    Fish
    1/20 kati
    Chinese characters Wang Lai -
    Attracting luck

    click image to enlarge

    Ruster
    1/20 kati
    Chinese characters Sheng Cai -
    Making fortune
    click image to enlarge

    Crab
    1/20 kati
    Chinese characters Wang -
    Prosper
    click image to enlarge

    Crab
    1/20 kati
    Chinese characters Fu -
    abundant, ample; rich, wealthy

    1/10 kati
    click image to enlarge

    Tortoise
    1/10 kati
    Chinese character Fu -
    abundant, ample; rich, wealthy
    click image to enlarge

    Tortoise
    1/10 kati
    Chinese characters Wang Lai -
    Attracting luck

    Click image to see enlarged image
    click image to enlarge

    Tortoise
    1/10 kati
    Chinese character Xiang -
    good luck, good omen; happiness
    click image to enlarge

    Tortoise
    1/10 kati
    Chinese character Lai Cai -
    Luck & wealth

    click image to enlarge

    Fish
    1/10 kati
    Chinese characters Sheng Cai -
    Making fortune
    click image to enlarge

    Ruster
    1/10 kati
    Chinese characters Wang Lai -
    Attracting luck

    click image to enlarge

    Crab
    1/10 kati
    Chinese characters Wang Cai -
    Luck & fortune
    click image to enlarge

    Crab
    1/10 kati
    Chinese characters Cai Lai -
    Luck & fortune ?

    1/2 kati
    click image to enlarge

    Tortoise
    1/2 kati
    Chinese characters Fu Zu -
    Reaching wealthy

    1 kati
    click image to enlarge

    Tortoise
    1 kati
    Without inscriptions.

    Special thanks to Stephen Tai for Chinese characters reading.

    Tin cash coins from Malacca ('Admiral Zheng He's cash')


    Chinese Coinage Web Site