Item number: A509

Year: AD 1835

Material: Copper

Size: 20.9 x 20.9 x 0.5 mm

Weight: 1.9 g

Manufactured by: Soho Mint

Provenance: Noonans 2022

This is a trade token minted in AD 1835 by the British East India Company, based in Singapore, to facilitate trade with the island of Sumatra. The token was issued under the fictitious name “Island of Sultana” and features the emblem of a pair of prancing horse.

The prancing horse series trade tokens often bear the inscription “ISLAND OF SULTANA,” but this item belongs to the version without the inscription. The obverse of the coin features a shield flanked by prancing horses on either side. The shield is adorned with decorative lines, with a waving Union Jack flag above it and a scroll at the bottom. Below the scroll is the inscription “1835,” indicating the year of minting.

The reverse of the coin features the Jawi script commonly used in the Malay Archipelago, with the inscription “ڤولاو مىلايو,” meaning “Malay Islands.” At the bottom edge, the date is indicated in Eastern Arabic numerals as “١۴۱١,” which corresponds to the year AD 1990.

This coin, minted in AD 1835, uses an Islamic calendar date corresponding to the 20th century. The reason behind this lies in the events starting from October 15, AD 1835, when Dutch authorities based in Batavia (Jakarta) discovered that British trade tokens were circulating within Sumatra, a region under Dutch claim. To circumvent the Dutch ban on tokens bearing the name “Sumatra,” the British East India Company, operating out of Singapore, renamed the tokens to reference the fictitious “Island of Sultana” and adjusted the Islamic calendar date on the coins to evade Dutch restrictions.

物件編號: A509

年代: 公元 1835 年

材質: 紅銅

尺寸: 20.9 x 20.9 x 0.5 mm

重量: 1.9 g

製造地: 蘇荷鑄幣廠

來源: 諾南斯 2022

這是一枚公元1835年，以新加坡為據點的英國東印度公司為維繫跟蘇門答臘島的交易，以假想的「蘇丹娜島」名義鑄造的一對駿馬紋章貿易代幣。

駿馬系列貿易代幣經常有「ISLAND OF SULTANA」(蘇丹娜島)銘文，這枚物件屬於無銘文版本。錢幣正面有一個左右以駿馬攙扶的盾牌。盾牌以線條作為裝飾，上方有一面飄揚的英國米字旗，底部以卷軸作為襯托。卷軸下方則標示鑄造時間「1835」。

錢幣背面是流通於馬來群島的爪夷文「ڤولاو مىلايو」意思是「馬來島嶼」，下緣則是用東阿拉伯數字標示的回曆「١۴۱۱」，換算為公元1990年。

這枚實則在公元1835年鑄造的錢幣，之所以使用對應至公元20世紀的回曆紀年。主要是公元1835年10月15日起，以巴達維亞(雅加達)為總部的荷蘭當局發現英商的貿易代幣，不斷流入其聲稱擁有統治權的蘇門答臘島，因此下令禁止帶有「蘇門答臘島」字樣的英國代幣流通。以新加坡為據點的英國東印度公司，為此將代幣上的「蘇門答臘島」改稱為「蘇丹娜島」，並且調整錢幣的回曆紀年，以規避荷蘭當局設下的限制。