Palembang pitis
The Palembang pitis was a currency issued by the Palembang Sultanate from the 1600s until 1825 when the sultanate was dissolved and its territory taken over by the colonial government of the Dutch East Indies. The currency consisted of low denomination tin alloy coins which were mostly traded in bulk. Due to the lack of a centralized mint, the pitis often had inconsistent manufacture and were frequently counterfeited.
History
Palembang, like Banten, had become an independent sultanate when the Demak Sultanate declined following the death of Sultan Trenggana in 1546. Thereafter from the 1560s to 1620s, Palembang became an active trade participant in two key products of the region, pepper and tin. During the course of this trade, coins from various local sultanates circulated in Palembang, namely Banten, Siak, Kampar and Jambi, in addition to Chinese cash coins which had already been circulating in the archipelago. Palembang's earliest coinage date from this period, which were tin imitation of Chinese cash with Chinese characters phonetically rendering "pangeran" or "sultan" into panglân and sútan respectively, dated between 1600 and 1658. This was followed by an issue with Jawi inscription reading 'alamat sulṭan, dated between 1658 and 1710. The second half of the 17th century saw increasing monopoly of the Dutch East Indies Company in the pepper and tin trade. This severely undermined the regional trading network and undermined the prosperity of local sultanates. Local coins became scarce in Palembang, with the exception of coins minted at Palembang itself. Beside the pitis, the early 18th century also saw the release of the VOC duiten and Spanish dollar, which also circulated in Palembang.Around 1710, tin deposits were discovered on Bangka Island, which was part of Palembang Sultanate at the time. The discovery led to a tin surplus which was traded in form of ingots by the sultanate and provided materials for low denomination coinage in mass quantity. The 18th century coinage of the Palembang Sultanate consisted of two separate coin series. The first is the sultan's small-size coins bearing Jawi inscriptions, and the second are larger-size coins bearing Chinese inscription. The Chinese-style coins, which were minted for the Chinese mining communities on Bangka are commonly thought to only circulate in Bangka. However, Bangka at the time had close ties with the administration of Palembang town and Chinese-style coins appeared to have also been minted in the city as well. It is very likely that the Chinese-style coins circulated side by side with the sultan's coins within the core areas of Palembang.
In 1812, Palembang lost its source of tin when British forces occupied Bangka Island. The island went on to become a nominal Dutch possession after the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 and was formally handed over to the Dutch in 1816. Around the 1820s, Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II rose up against the Dutch but was defeated by the Dutch general Hendrik Merkus de Kock in 1821. The Dutch divested Mahmud of his powers and exiled him to Ternate in the same year. In 1825, the Dutch took Palembang under direct Dutch administration. The last dated Palembang pitis was from 1804, and presumably further production ceased by 1825.
Manufacture
Palembang's output of coins had been fairly restrained before 1710, but tin surplus expanded the state's coinage. Pitis were cast in the same way as Chinese cash coins: molten tin was first cast into molds which resulted in "coin trees." Individual coins were then broken off and polished to round the edges, although stem remnants from unthorough polishing are commonly seen in Palembang pitis. Finally, a die is used to struck the coin with the appropriate inscription.Official coinage issued by the Sultan formed only one part of the total coinage circulating in Palembang, as the manufacture of counterfeit coinage became a major industry. Counterfeit coins could have been made by almost anyone with access to Palembang's tin supply during the period of tin surplus. There are reports of severe punishment against counterfeiters, but as the quality of official pitis themselves were often inconsistent due to lack of centralized manufacture, it may be difficult to ascertain whether a particular sample is official or unauthorized issue. Common inconsistencies include size, weight, and inscriptions.