| SPECIFICATIONS | |
| Denomination | Two Tanga |
| Alloy | Silver |
| Type | Struck |
| Diameter | 20. mm |
| Thickness | _._ mm |
| Weight legal | 4.38 gms |
| Weight | 4.33 gms |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Smooth |
| DieAxis | _____° |
| Mint | Goa,India |
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| Codrington PL 110 ; Gomes J4:17.02 ; KM India/Goa#68 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Gomes J4:17.03 ; KM India/Goa#68 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Obverse : Crowned Coat of arms of Portugal divides G A
(Goa) within line-dotted-line circles
Reverse : Standing figure facing right with flag divides
S I (São João) and the year
I6 42 and I6 43 in upper and lower specimen.
Within line-dotted-line circles.
Codrington (VIII-21:III,p.100) lists it among silver coins struck
for Ceylon as the third series Saint type of 1650-1653.
They were minted in Goa with dates 1641, 1642, 1643 and 1649.
The circulation of the São João Tanga was
forbidden in Goa in 1650 when the Cross of Christ coinage was
introduced.
Minting was however continued in Goa with dates 1650, 1651 1652, 1653
and 1655 for circulation only in Ceilão.
Jaffna, the last foothold of the Portuguese fell into the hands of
the Dutch in 1658.
This coin struck at Goa, circulated largely on the island of
Ceylon, with many other Indo-Portuguese coins
Robert Knox in his book History of Ceylon mentions this coin:
"Of money they have but three sorts that passeth for coin in the
King's dominions: the one that was coined by the Portugal; the King's
arms on one side, and the image of a friar on the other, and by the
Chingulays called tangom massa."
In Grogan section on Ceylon the double Tanga is illustrated
(1326) of I6S0 -- 19/20 mm ; 4.27 grams and
(1327) of I6Si -- 20/19 mm ; 4.16 grams.
(1328) of I6Si -- 20/19 mm ; 4.16 grams.
(1329) of I6S2 -- 19/18.5 mm ; 4.20 grams.
The Krause listing of extra year 1656 must be from a similar issue struck for Diu with the initial Å D, which are known for the dates 1654, 1655 and 1656. Mitchiner (#2167) lists the Diu double Tanga with mintmark Å D countermarked in Jaffna with a R.
Text from
* Ceylon Coins and Currency By H. W. Codrington. Colombo 1924
Chapter VIII Portuguese - Plate xxx. Page xxx
* The Coins of the Dutch Overseas Territories- 1601-1948
C. Scholten, 1953, Amsterdam: Jacques Schulman. page xxx-xxx
* Moedas Portuguesas 1128-1988, by Alberto Gomes. Lisbon 1987
* Collection Henry Thomas Grogan, J. Schulman, Auction 23-02-1914.
* Non-Islamic and Western Colonies since 600 AD by by Michael Mitchiner.
I thank Jan Lingen who kindly sent me the 300 dpi scans of these rare coin from his collection and are displayed at xxx dpi.