Portuguese India 1886 1/8 tanga
This specimen is from a three year type struck for the Portuguese colonies in India. Once extensive, Portuguese dominions had dwindled by the 1800's to the enclaves of Goa, Diu and Damao. Issues up to 1952 were based on the rupee (one rupia = 16 tanga) and struck at the British controlled mints of Bombay and Calcutta. The year 1881 saw the only complete series of silver minted, including the eighth, quarter, half and one rupia. Copper issues included an eighth (shown here), quarter, half and one tanga. The mintage figure given below, taken from the SCWC, is probably intended to be 12,397,000. This specimen was lot 46600 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Chicago, August 2024), where it did not sell. The catalog description[1] noted, "INDIA. Portuguese India. 1/8 Tanga, 1886. Calcutta Mint. Luis I. PCGS AU-58."
Recorded mintage: 12,397 for 1881-86, possibly a misprint for 12,397,000.
Specification: copper.
Catalog reference: KM-307; Gomes-09.03.
- 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, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, August 2024 Global Showcase Auction, World & Ancient Coins, featuring The Emilio M. Ortiz Collection, The Richard Margolis Collection and The Rutherford Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
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