| SPECIFICATIONS | |
| Denomination | 1/8 Duit |
| Alloy | Tin-lead |
| Type | Cast |
| Diameter | 12 mm |
| Thickness | mm |
| Weight Legal | 1.462 gms |
| Edge | rough |
| Mint | |
In SLNS Meeting of 2019 February 17th Rudi Boekel giving a lecture on this coin pointed out that the Sinhala letters read අත් මිල Ath Mila the Sinhala which translates to Hand Value, and not අක මිල Aka Mila 1/8 Salli as stated in Scholten.
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| Schloten 1319; Mitchiner #Unlisted; Krause #23 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Obverse : | 17 47 | with a center punch not holed through | |
| Reverse : | අත් මිල | Ath Mila | in Sinhala |
Codrington states:
By January of 1744 the unusual lack of duits had bought daily trade,
in particular that in arecanuts to a standstill, and, as the Kandyans
would not take any money but duits, it was decided to issue to the
Cashier the small quantity then in the treasury to be paid to
purchasers of areca, and also to publish a notice strictly forbidding
the changing of copper coins for a premium, and recommending the
people to bring all not required for daily use to the Treasury to be
exchanged for rupees and pagodas. The Ceylon plakaat ordering all
copper duits to be delivered to the Treasury and pagodas and "paper
money" to be issued in their stead may be the notification or a
reiteration there of, as its date is given in one place as 1745, and
in another as January 30, 1746.
To relieve the situation the Indian Government by secret letter of
September 24, 1745, sanctioned the minting of "bazaroekken," and in
July, 1746, it was resolved to commence work. The alloy was to be half
lead and half tin ; the coin was to be pierced with a hole for the
purpose of stringing, was to weigh 338 or thereabouts to the pound
(22.4 grains Troy), and was to be current at 64 to the Holland double
stuiver or 192 to the schelling, that is, at one-eighth of a duit. The
work seems to have progressed slowly, for in May, 1747, it was
reported that one Marcellus files had all in readiness for casting
these coins, which were put into circulation by plakaat in the same
year; in 1756, however, it is stated that they were issued in 1746. As
was to be expected, they were promptly forged, and in January, 1748, a
reward of RD. 300 was offered for the detection of the offenders.
This coin is listed as extremely Rare in Scholten. I remember seeing one in the British Museum collection.
Text from
* Ceylon Coins and Currency By H. W. Codrington. Colombo 1924
Chapter IX Dutch - II 1681-1768 (31). Page 119
* The Coins of the Dutch Overseas Territories- 1601-1948
C. Scholten, 1953, Amsterdam: Jacques Schulman Page 156.
This extremely Rare coin is unlikely to be found for this coin collection.
The image is from Scholten, scanned and 600 dpi and displayedat 600 dpi.
| 74 | 1.46g | Nearly pierced in center from reverse |
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| 75 | 1.36g | No central pellet. Probably a contemporary forgery. |
Sold at Taisei-Baldwin-Gillio Auction Catalogue #19. 1995 February 23. Singapore Dick Ford Collection for US$550 and for US$308 including the 10% buyers premium.