1631 - 1638 - Portuguese Malacca
Silver - Quarter Xerafim TA - D M

The silver Quarter Xerafim (1.25 Tanga) with Coat of arms of Portugal and Asia Tanga (TA) monogram struck from 1631-1638 for circulation in De Malacca D M, and other Portuguese colonies in Asia during the reign of D. Filipe III (1621-1640).

Denomination&quarter; Xerafim
AlloySilver
TypeStruck
Diameter19.1 mm
Thickness1.3 mm
Weight Legal3.07 gms
Weight3.08 gms
DieAxis200°
MintMalacca/Goa
 1632_AM_DM_TA_F3_Qxera_ag_obverse 1632_AM_DM_TA_F3_Qxera_ag_reverse
Gomes ; F.Vaz F3.31; KM #??

Obverse : Crowned Coat of arms of Portugal divides A M (Asia Malacca) within a circle of dots between two plain line circles.
Reverse : TA (Tanga Asia) monogram divides D M (De Malacca) with year I632 below, within a circle of dots between two plain line circles.

Probably known in Ceylon as quarter Xerafim or 1.25 Tanga. See extract from Codrington (VIII-25p.102) on Full Xerafim coin. The 1914 catalog of coins of the Colombo Museum by Codrington mentions them as Xerafim lists 3 full and 2 half (#80,81) The coins are illustrated in Indo Portuguese Money by J. Ferraro Vaz (Braga 1980) p.148 who calls them Tanga. The coins minted in Mallaca don't seem to be listed in Krause 1600's SCWC.

Text from
* Ceylon Coins and Currency By H. W. Codrington. Colombo 1924
  Chapter VIII Portuguese - III Malacca 24, Page 102
* Indo Portuguese Money, by J Ferraro Vaz, Braga, Portugal 1980. p.148
* Collection Henry Thomas Grogan, J. Schulman, Auction 23-02-1914.

The uncleaned F grade coin was scanned at 600 dpi and displayed at 400 dpi. Coin is from part of Lalith Raddella's collection I purchased in 2016 December.