Goa 1774 1/2 tanga
This specimen was lot 748 in Steve Album Auction 54 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2026), where it sold for $460. The catalog description[1] noted, "GOA: José I, 1750-1777, AE 1/2 tanga (30 reis), 1774, a superb example of this type, PCGS graded VF35." The Portuguese were the first European power to make direct contact with India. They concentrated on trade but were not above piracy or political meddling if the opportunity arose. They conquered or dominated a good part of India in the sixteenth century but gradually had to yield to others, especially the British. By 1774, Portuguese holdings were limited to Diu, Damao and Goa. Each had a mint which struck hammered coinage until the 1860's. This scarce type is listed for 1759, 1762-76. It had a face value of thirty réis.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: copper, this specimen 20.54 g.
Catalog reference: KM-135.
- Alberto Gomes and Francisco Antonio Magro, Moedas Portuguesas e do Território Que Hoje é Portugal: Catálogo das Moedas Cunhadas para o Continentes e Ilhas Adjacentes, para os Territórios do Ultramar e Grão-Mestres Portugueses da Ordem de Malta, 6ª Edição, Lisbon: Associação Numismática de Portugal, 2013.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Hanbing Feng, Auction 54, featuring selections from the Kenneth A. Bovenkamp Collection of Ottoman Coins, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2025.
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