Dutch - Batavia - 1644
VOC - Half Stuiver

The East India Company of Batavia by a placard of 1644 August 19, it was decided to grant the Chinaman named Conjok the sole right to cast copper Half and Quarter Stuivers for use in Banda, Malacca. and Ceilon. A prohibition (despatch from Netherlands of 1644 Sept. 21) demonetized this emergency coinage in the Archipelago.

SPECIFICATIONS
DenominationHalf Stuiver
AlloyCopper
TypeStruck
Diameter29.3 mm
Thickness1.5 mm
Weight Legal7.72 gms
Weight7.25 gms
Shaperound
EdgePlain
DieAxis-150°
MintBatavia
 1644_batavia_hst_obverse 1644_batavia_hst_reverse
Indonesia KM#31

Obverse : The arms of Batavia (vertical sword) in inner circle along periphery the legend BATAVIA · ANNO · 1644 · with date on top and within outer circle
Reverse : VOC monogram below the value · ½ · ST · all within a line circle.
VOC monogram of the Dutch East India Company has a large V superimposed on OC.

Codrington (1914) list the coins in the Colombo Museum as 8.42 and 4.86 grams for the 1/2 and 1/4 stiver. This coin is an acceptable 6% lighter than the prescribed weight of 7.72 grams for those made at Batavia in 1644.

In Schloten the original 1644 half Stuivers is listed as Scarce, and the similer design Quarter Stiver as very rare RR. Those coins were issued around the time the Dutch were displacing the Portuguese from the coast of Lanka.

Codrington (page 111 13.) noted that many of the coin called tammekassen found in Lanka are considerably lighter and may have been minted in Negapatnam for Ceilon.

Edited from
The Coins of the Dutch Overseas Territories- 1601-1948
  C. Scholten, 1953, Amsterdam: Jacques Schulman.

The coin was scanned at 600 dpi and displayed at 250 dpi. It is from part of Raja Wickramasinghe collection purchased in 2016 December.