Malacca (1557-78) soldo
This specimen was lot 3748 in Steve Album Auction 51 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2025), where it did not sell. The catalog description[1] noted, "PORTUGUESE MALACCA: soldo, ND (1511-1640), tin issue, crossed arrows with dots to left and right // globe, very rare type, VF-XF, RR, ex Stephen Album Price List #282." Malacca was the main port of southeast Asia in the fifteenth century, a status held by Singapore and Jakarta today. The Portuguese conquered it in 1511 and held it until losing to the Dutch in 1641, who yielded to the English in 1795. Numista says one pardao was sixty soldos. The crossed arrows indicate that this coin was struck during the reign of king Sebastian (r. 1557-78).
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specifications: 6.8 g, tin-lead, 20 mm diameter, this specimen 3.32 g.
Catalog reference: SS-S.10, TL-563, Gomes-29.01.
- 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.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 51, featuring the Howard Daniel III Collection of Asian Coins, the Almer H. Orr III Collection of World Coins and the Joe Sedillot Collection of German Coins, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2024.
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