Item number: A134

Year: AD 1788

The results after XRF testing

Material: Gold

Size: 11.5 x 11.5 mm / thick: 1.0~3.0 mm

Weight: 3.4 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This coin(Sinhala: Parangipatta) is classified as belonging to the New Negapatnam type of Porto Novo pagoda. It was minted by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) at the Tuticorin and Colombo Mints between AD 1760 and AD 1794.

The obverse side features a depiction of Lord Venkateswara (Vishnu) in full length, standing with a chakra on each side. Adjacent to Vishnu’s right side, at the height of his hip, a “lazy J” symbol can be observed. Conversely, the reverse side displays a field of granulated dots.

According to the minting records extracted from Codrington, the date of the pagoda can be discerned from its gold content, as indicated below:

Thus, this particular pagoda was likely minted around AD 1788 in Tuticorin.

The pagoda, a type of gold coin prevalent in South India and Ceylon, facilitated transactions among kingdoms in southern India. It was issued by various dynasties during medieval times, including the Kadambas of Hangal, the Kadambas of Goa, and the Vijaynagar Empire. Subsequently, it served as a means of exchange between these kingdoms and European powers such as the Dutch, the French, the Portuguese, and the British. With the introduction of silver currency in southern India in AD 1810, the pagoda was phased out in favor of the rupee. Pagodas can be categorized into two main types: Star pagodas and Porto Novo pagodas.

The Dutch East India Company (VOC, AD 1602–1799) emerged as Europe’s foremost commercial and colonial force in 17th-century Asia. Its initial objectives revolved around accessing the trade of Indian cloth for valuable spices from the Maluku Islands, leading to its presence on the Coromandel Coast. Additionally, the strategic significance of Surat as a maritime hub and Bengal as a producer of silk and cotton attracted the Company to the Mughal Empire. Throughout South Asia, the VOC’s influence was sustained through diplomatic relations with local rulers. These commercial, diplomatic, and colonial interactions fostered significant cultural exchanges and knowledge production in art, religion, language, and botanical science, indicative of profound cross-cultural connections and mutual influences. The VOC maintained a robust trade network in South Asia until the late 18th century, when its Indian territories were seized by the British during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (AD 1780–1784) and again in AD 1795 to AD 1796 during the French Revolutionary Wars.

According to William Spengler,  the term “Lazy J” may have been lifted from the cattle culture of the American West and applied to certain symbols on coins. In designing branding irons for marking ownership of newborn calves, cattle-owners often combined letters, numbers and/or other symbols in arrangements which could not easily be confused with brands of other owners or altered by cattle-rustlers. When such a letter, number or other symbol was rendered lying on its side, it was referred to as “lazy”. Thus, a letter such as “J” shown rotated 90 degrees came to be called a “Lazy J”. 

Jan Lingen claimed that “lazy J” on the single swami pagodas is rotated anti-clock wise and it appears on the right side of the pagoda at the height of the hip of the deity. 

物件編號: A134

年代: 公元 1788 年

XRF分析結果:

材質: 黃金

尺寸: 11.5 x 11.5 mm / thick: 1.0~3.0 mm

重量: 3.4 g

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這枚金幣屬於「新納加帕蒂南（New Negapatnam type）」型的「波多諾佛（Porto Novo） 」寶塔幣。它由荷蘭東印度公司（VOC）在杜蒂戈林（Tuticorin） 和可倫坡（Colombo）造幣廠於公元1760年至1794年之間鑄造。在蘭卡，它被稱為「帕蘭吉帕塔」（Parangipatta）。

寶塔幣的正面展示了一個站立的毘濕奴的全身像，兩側各有一個脈輪 。在毘濕奴的右側，在他的腰部高處可以看到一個「Lazy J」符號。而背面則呈顆粒狀點。

根據科德靈頓的造幣記錄，這枚寶塔幣的日期可以根據其含金量確定，如下所示：

因此，這枚寶塔幣很可能是公元1788年左右在杜蒂戈林鑄造的。 

寶塔幣是南印度和錫蘭流通的一種金幣，用於南印度王國之間的交易。它由中世紀南印度的各個王朝發行，包括漢加爾的卡丹巴王朝，果阿的卡丹巴王朝和維賈揚加爾帝國。後來，它被用於南印度王國與歐洲人之間的交易：荷蘭人、法國人、葡萄牙人和英國人被授權鑄造寶塔幣。自從1810年在南印度引入了銀幣後，寶塔幣逐漸被盧比取代。寶塔幣可以分為兩種類型：星形寶塔幣和波多諾佛寶塔幣。

荷蘭東印度公司（VOC，公元1602–1799年）在公元17世紀的亞洲發展成為歐洲最大的商業和殖民勢力。最初，該公司因其對印度布料與馬魯古群島的珍貴香料的渴望而被引導到科羅曼德爾海岸，而蘇拉特作為西印度洋的主要海上中心和孟加拉作為絲綢和棉花的主要出口地位則吸引了該公司到達莫卡爾帝國。在南亞的所有地區，公司的地位都依賴於並通過與當地統治者的外交關係來維持。這些商業、外交和殖民互動引發了在藝術、宗教、語言和植物科學領域的重要形式的文化交流和知識生產，這些交流和影響證明了重要的跨文化聯繫和相互影響。荷蘭東印度公司在南亞保持了強大的貿易網絡，直到公元18世紀末，當時它的印度領土在第四次英荷戰爭(公元1780–1784年)期間首次被英國佔領，再次在公元1795年至公元1796年的法國大革命戰爭期間被佔領。

根據威廉·斯潘格勒（William Spengler）的說法，「懶惰的J（Lazy J）」這個術語可能源自美國西部的牛文化，並被應用於某些硬幣上的符號。在設計用於標記新生小牛所有權的烙印時，牛主們經常將字母、數字和/或其他符號組合在一起，以確保它們不容易與其他所有者的品牌混淆，也不容易被牛賊篡改。當一個字母、數字或其他符號被呈現成橫放狀態時，就被稱為「懶惰的」。因此，像「J」這樣的字母旋轉90度後被稱為「懶惰的J」。揚·林根（Jan Lingen）聲稱，單枚寶塔幣上的「懶惰的J」呈逆時針旋轉，並且出現在寶塔幣的右側，在神明的臀部高度處。