Pengguna:Rochelimit/Sandbox

Koin kuno di Indonesia

1 masa koin emas masing-masing 5 milimeter.

By the 10th-century, Java had the most complex economies in Southeast Asia. Despite the importance of rice farming which acts as a king of tax income for the Javanese courts, the influx of sea trade in Asia between the 10th and 13th centuries forced a more convenient currency to the Javanese economy. During the late 8th-century, a kind of ingots made of gold and silver were introduced. These are the Early Indonesian coins.

Early development in Central Java

In Java, rice farming was still the main occupation of most households in the village. This continued to provide most of the tax income of the Javanese courts. Later in the period, the northern coasts of Java and Bali became the main center of an affluent export trade in local agricultural products and manufactures, as well as spices e.g. sandalwood from east of Indonesia. These trade brought shipping industry to distant markets e.g. China and India. The increasing intensity of trade called for a convenient currency in the Javanese society.

During the late 8th-century money took the form of ingots made of gold and silver. These are the earliest recorded coins in Indonesia. The currency in Indonesia is based on weight; the most common units were the kati of 750 gram (26 oz), tahil of 38 gram (1,3 oz), masa 24 gram (0,85 oz) and kupang 06 gram (0,21 oz). These units were legal tender for tax payments. The kati, tahil, masa and kupang units remained in use up until the Dutch period. Several trade jargon were introduced in this period, e.g. the Javanese wli, which became the modern Indonesian beli ("buy"), and the Sanskrit wyaya, modern Indonesian term biaya ("expenses") appears in two inscriptions both dated 878 AD. The Javanese coins have no parallels with the style of Indian coins. Most of the Javanese coins were found within the Javanese kingdom of Shailendra.

Gold coins

A gold coin of probably the highest denomination of ka.

Most gold coins of 9th and early 10th century Java are stamped with the character ta in nagari script on one side, an abbreviation of tahil. The same character remain on coins until the Kediri Kingdom period in the 12th-century. Gold coins were usually made in the shape of cubes, carefully crafted and very uniform and size and gold content.

Silver coins

Sandalwood decoration or quatrefoil appeared in the silver ingot on the picture below.

Central Javanese silver coins have very different shape compared with the gold coins. Most silver coins are round and known as "sandalwood flower" coins referring to the four-petaled flower (quatrefoil) found on the reverse. The silver coins lasted from the early 9th until the 14th century. The same flower appears on one side of older silver ingots from central Java; the other side is stamped with a flowing vase design, which is never found on coins. The observe of the sandalwood flower coins are stamped with the nagiri character ma (abbreviation of masa).

Unlike the gold coins, the silver coins changed rapidly. In only one century, the character ma degenerated very quickly, perhaps because it is different with the Javanese Kawi letter for ma. The shape also changed; in the early 10th-century, the shape of one masa changed from a thick and flat coin, to a thin and cup-shaped coin. The silver coins were presumably served as small change. The silver coins were probably created by smiths in the market for use in market transactions.

In Java, beginning at the end of the 10th-century and onwards, more and more Chinese copper coins were imported in greater quantities, as well as Chinese cash and local copies, known as pisis. These coins began to displace the silver alloy coins as small denomination currency. By the mid-14th century, there were so many pisis in circulation, that the Javanese court recognized them as official currency for tax purposes.

Sumatran coins

In Sumatra, coins were first minted in the 11th-century. Similar sandalwood flower coins like those in Java were discovered in Sumatra, but more of these were made of gold, electrum, and silver alloy. Several 11th-century sites in Sumatra including Barus, Bengkulu, and Muara Jambi were abundant of gold coins, while silver is rare. Similar coins were found also in South Thailand. The Sumatran silver alloy examples are very well made compared with the Javanese silver coins.

Curiously, no coins have been found at Palembang, said to be the center of the Sriwijayan economy. This suggests that coins may have had a limited role in the early Sriwijayan economy. International trade might have been conducted either through the mechanism known as tributary trade or in other form known as administered trade. In administered trade system, equivalencies were established between commodities through diplomatic negotiations rather than bargaining.

Legacy

The gold piloncitos of the Philippines are a late offshoot of the Indonesian gold coinage, while the bean-like silver "namo" series, of the Malay isthmus was presumably an offshoot of the silver and may have evolved into the bullet (Pod-Duang) coinage of Sukhothai in Thailand.

See also

• Piloncito

Cited works

• Christie, Jan (1996). "The Early Indonesian Economy". Dalam Miksic, John. Ancient History. Singapore: Didier Millet. ISBN 9813018267. 

Batu Goa

Goa Stone and container, probably from Goa, India, late 17th–early 18th century.

A Goa stone is a man-made bezoar that is considered to have medicinal and talismanic properties. Goa stones were manufactured by Jesuits in the late seventeenth century in Goa, India, because naturally occurring bezoars were scarce. Their inventor was the Florentine lay brother Gaspar Antonio, and a Jesuit monopoly was confirmed by the Portuguese on March 6, 1691. They were created by combining organic and inorganic materials including hair, shells, tusks, resin, and crushed gems, then shaping the materials into a ball and gilting it. Like bezoar stones, Goa stones were thought to prevent disease and cure poisoning. They could be administered by shaving off small pieces into a drinkable beverage like water, tea, or wine.

Goa stones were kept in ornate, solid gold or gilded cases that were believed to enhance the medicinal properties of the stones. The cases usually featured a busy network of filagree, occasionally adorned with ornaments of animals, including monkeys, unicorns, dogs, and parrots.