Hello @Jarcek! Following up on our previous discussion on Perak and where the merchant tokens should go, I have come up with a solution.
Currently, these tokens are scattered around Numista in various issuers, such as Thailand (N#174242), Malaysia (N#135443), and assorted issuers under the British East Indies (N#24412, N#40074, N#48334, etc). The issue here is that ALL of these tokens were issued for primary circulation in British Singapore, NOT the locations claimed on the tokens themselves. From the descriptions of these types: “These coins were not official currency of any state. They were first issued in the early 1800s by British merchants at Singapore, to alleviate base coin shortage, before spreading to various parts of the Malay Archipelago. To circumvent confiscation attempts by colonial authorities (particularly the Dutch), British merchants used inscriptions that refer to locations that are vague, fictitious, or unaffiliated to Europeans. In this manner, legally it could not be argued that the tokens were intended for circulation in colonial territories.”
Within Southeast Asian colonial numismatics, they are all referred to as “Singaporean Merchant Tokens”, most notably by Zeno, Saran Singh (1986) The encyclopaedia of the coins of Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei, 1400-1986., and Fred Pridmore (1965) Coins of the British Commonwealth of Nations to the End of the Reign of George VI 1952. The locations cited on them were not where they were actually issued, and therefore should not be where they are cataloged on Numista.
Here is my working plan:
1. Create issuer “Singapore” ("Colony of Singapore"?, "British Singapore"?) for all of these tokens to be properly listed under:
Format:
British East Indies
----- “British Singapore”(?)
Name: “British Singapore” or “Colony of Singapore” (To differentiate it from the modern country of Singapore)
Map Location: Singapore
Predecessors: “Sultanate of Johor”
Successors: “Straits Settlements”, “Singapore”
Introduction: The British Colony of Singapore was founded by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819 as a port of free trade in the Straits of Malacca, helping the British to challenge Dutch hegemony in the region. In the early days of the colony, wealthy merchants commissioned tokens to be created for circulation on the island and trade with other nearby colonies. These tokens were not official currency of any state. To circumvent confiscation attempts by colonial authorities (particularly the Dutch), British merchants use inscriptions that refer to locations that are vague, fictitious, or unaffiliated to Europeans.
Flag: Same as “British East Indies”
2. Delete the fantasy issuers these tokens are currently listed under:
As I mentioned above, the tokens are currently spread out across Numista under various issuers. The vast majority of these issuers should not exist, as these tokens were ALL made for Singapore, despite what they might say on them. The following issuers should be deleted from the catalog once the proper Singaporean issuer is created:
- Deli (British East Indies)
- Sulawesi (British East Indies)
- Malay Peninsula (British East Indies)
- Perak (Malaysia)
Deli, Sulawesi, and the Malay Peninsula issuers only hold Singaporean merchant tokens, which were not issued to circulate in those places and the issuers should be removed. Perak is particularly bad currently, as it combines a Singaporean merchant token (Which should be moved to the new Singapore issuer) as well as a number of modern fantasy bullion (Which should NOT have their own issuer and just be listed under Malaysia, as they are fantasy issues made within the country of Malaysia in modern times). After these types are moved to their correct locations, the issuer “Perak (Malaysia)” should be deleted as well.
The British East India issuers “Penang” and “Sumatra”, despite having many Singaporean merchant tokens under them which must be moved, should remain as issuers in the catalog, as they have actual circulation coinage that actually belongs under them other than the tokens.
Many apologies for such a long write up! Thank you for taking the time to help me correct this issue in the catalog and find a proper place for these tokens!
- Reslumi
