170. GC Designer's Initial for Geoffrey Colley, Designer of Malaysia Coin First Series

image 1: Designer's Initial close-up view

For some weeks I spend my time doing research in Material Science Lab.

And while doing it, I captured this GC for those who have sight problems in seeing these tiny initials.

This GC stands for Geoffrey Colley, the designer who designed the first series of Malaysian coins, famously know as Parliament Series. This GC is not a mint mark as suggested by a local catalogue, but is a Designer's Initial.

This image was taken via a microscope using 50 times magnification, the lowest magnification available. A 20 sen coin dated 1971 in UNC condition was used to capture this lovely designer's initial.

169. 20 sen 2006 wrong planchet error 20 sen struck on 10 sen planchet

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin 

image 2: obverse of the coin

image 3: reverse of the coin

Hi everyone, happy weekends and Merry Christmas to those who celebrates it.

My latest catch on error coin, which dug a considerable big hole in my tiny student pocket is this Wrong Planchet Error coin.

This is a wrong planchet error coin which the 20 sen dies were used to struck a planchet of 10 sen.

The size and weight of this specimen is exactly the same as the normal 10 sen planchet. The measurement that I took on this coin showed that this specimen is thinner than usual 10 sen coin. This is probably due to nonexistence of the rims. And one more perhaps the pressure used by 20 sen dies were higher than 10 sen dies set, hence makes the coin thinner than usual.

On how to differentiate between a genuine wrong planchet error and a fake one, we can analyse the legends near the rim area. Due to the nonexistence of the collar die set which is supposedly to hold the edge, the legends near the rim will exhibit a fishtailing characteristics. This fishtailing occurs due to no normal force from the collar die, thus a solid legends failed to be formed.

In this specimen, fishtailing is obvious on legend "BANK NEGARA MALAYSIA" especially on the N of NEGARA.

168. 10 sen 2007 Doubled Die Reverse (DDR) Class V - Pivoted Hub Doubling

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

image 2: reverse of the coin

image 3: progression of doubling magnitude along the rim on reverse

My constant look out for weird coins landed this monster into my palm. I am still now still in disbelief that I have acquired the mother of the doubled die coins of Malaysia.

The first time I know that this DDR exists is when I stumbled upon an article from NUMISMASTER.COM.

http://www.numismaster.com/ta/numis/Article.jsp?ad=article&ArticleId=5029

It is quite amazing and proud to see a Malaysian variety coin appeared in a well-known US coin collector website. It is found out that the first known of this DDR now reside in Hawaii, far away from her motherland. She flied to Hawaii across the Pacific Ocean! To such extent the elusiveness of this coin can be said.

In my attempt to recognize the type of this doubled die, I think this is a Type V - Pivoted Hub Doubling Doubled Die.


This type of doubling occurs due to working hub is not properly aligned with the working die. This type of doubling is quite similar with Class 1 (Rotated Hub Doubling), but the pivot point is located somewhere around the rim. Thus, doubling magnitude is not the same along the rim.

The doubling is strongest on one side (in this case, left side of reverse), with little or no doubling on the opposite side of the coin (right side of reverse, see 7 of 07 and A of MALAYSIA). The doubling will increase as you travel around the rim of the coin until you come to the widest doubling. From this point on, the doubling starts to decrease until you return to the starting point with no doubling. This point of no doubling is called pivot point. The pivot point of this coin is found at 3.30 o'clock at the reverse.

And the doubling is in counter clockwise direction.

These two photos are for you to enjoy! Sorry for the low quality photos as I used a scanner, need a proper camera to capture her beauty!

image 4: the strongest doubling, N-N

image 5: the most obvious doubling, 20-20

166. SIEVING JOHOR KETON (TEASER)

image 1: among the Ketons discovered

164. 50 SEN 2000 DIE CRACK RTR AND DIE CHIP

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

image 2: obverse of the coin

image 3: the crack line and a cud

I am sorry for the long hiatus.

I was, and still being infected by syndrome of busy and hectic life.

Increasing workloads, papers, and books to read, and massive inputs from those numismatic sifus that I met recently are the top two things that made unable to spend long time in front of my computer.

As the Malay saying goes, "Jauh perjalanan, luas pemandangan" - the farther you travel, the more you know.

For the images posted above, this is my recent discovery of Malaysia error coin among my loose coins.

For this coin, a Die Crack Rim-to-Rim (RTR) can be seen with a tiny cud from a chipped die (refer image 3).

Interestingly, the Die Crack is quite similar to my specimen here of year 2003.

162. Sarawak 1 cent 1870 with chinese characters

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

image 2: obverse of the coin

image 3: chinese characters on the coin

This coin was acquired at an antique shop at Kota Tinggi, Johor.

There are Chinese characters which were being etched by a sharp object onto this coin. As I am illiterate in Chinese, many thanks goes to blogger whycollect for helping me deciphering these Chinese characters.

The characters read as "Da Tou Xian", which he supposes the etcher wanted to imply "God of Longevity".

And another commentator, Kreditanstalt, had suggested that the characters "Da Tao Xian" could also lead to A Foreign's (Orang Puteh's) Cent. This is because the term "Xian" had been used to indicate "Cent" on early Hong Kong stamps and terms "Da Tao" is also used to indicate a foreigner.


It is quite interesting I suppose.

Collection of En Naseer.

161. 20 sen 1968 lamination error 20%

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

image 2: lamination of the coin

{amended entry}

        I would like to express my gratitude to my fellow bloggers friends, depankanta, whycollect and Dickson for correcting me. At first I thought that this is a strike through cloth error coin. But it seems my imagination dragged me too much.

       This is actually a lamination error coin. Lamination error is categorized under Planchet Error/Defect. A lamination error occurs when the surface of the coin looks like it is being peeled off. It is also caused by impurities in the metal used in the blanking process or by some debris that was in the stamping dies.

      About 20% of the area on reverse get affected by the lamination.

     A lamination error coin is a random error. No two lamination error coins are exactly same.

{original entry}

        At the first sight, I thought that this is a heavily stained coin. But upon close inspection, I suspect that this could be a strike through error coin, probably strike through a piece of cloth?

           Strike through error coin happens when foreign object came into the striking chamber, hence become struck into along the coins. Even remnants of the foreign object, or the whole object itself, sometime can be found stuck inside the coin.

         The weight of this coin is 5.59g, only 0.06g less than the supposed weight, 5.65g. Circulated coins are always having lower weight than the actual weight due to wear.

160. JOHOR KATUN SS24

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin 1

image 2: inscriptions on the coin 1

image 3: obverse and reverse of coin 2

image 4: inscriptions on the coin 2

image 4: 

These are my favourite Johor Katun coins.

I find being able to read and write in Jawi is an advantage in collecting Malay Sultanate Coins. My friend, En. Nasser even has been able to read some Chinese characters in his Chinese Cash Coins collection.

If some Katun coins are not quite interesting as they are plain, these are not. Some Arabic letterings were placed in unusual manners. This could be a form of calligraphy or old spellings. The Jawi which I rewrote in image 4 are according to current standard writings.

Category	Coin > Malay Sultanate Coin > Johor
Country Of Origin	Johore (Now a state, a part of Malaysia)
Date	Unknown
Grade	-
Denomination	One Katun
Shape	Round
Weight	0.90g each (0.91g from SS)
Diameter	19mm each (12mm to 15mm from SS)
Thickness	-
Composition	Tin
Population	Unknown
Reference	SS24
Mint	-
Category	Normal Circulation Coinage
Demonetized	Yes
Engraver/Designer	-
Variety	Unknown
Edge	Plain
Obverse	In Jawi, "Al Adil" (the Just) stamped on a bar.
Reverse	In Jawi, "Sultan" (Ruler) circled by a line
Edge	Plain
Extra Note

159. malaysia 10 sen 1990 retooled date ?

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

image 2: doubled 0 on the reverse 

image 3: doubled 0 on the reverse (normal scan resolution)

Our Bunga Raya series coin are notoriously known for not-so-high quality minting products, especially compared to the Parliament Series.

Apart from die cracks errors, mechanical doubling, or also known as poor man's doubling also can be found easily among these coins.

But this coin particularly drew my attention.

Is this an ordinary Machine Doubling, or a Retooled Date? 

Comments are most welcomed, and sorry for the low quality scan images.

158. malaysia 5 sen 2009 doubled die obverse (DDO) Class I rotated hub doubling

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

image 2: obverse of the coin

My latest doubled die coin.

I think so far this is the only one Malaysian coin known for having doubling at its obverse.

This monstrous doubling is actually a major one, but due to small size of 5 sen coin, it hurts my eyes a bit.

I am still unsure about this doubled die class. Could it be a Class I Doubled Die, due to Rotated Hub Doubling?

Images are clickable for better resolution.

I wish I have a DSLR to shoot these lovely doublings.

Thanks Shaq for swapping this coin with me!

158. Malaysia rm1 Blank

image 1: obverse and reverse of the blank planchet

This is a Type 1 Blank of Malaysia RM1 coin.

A blank is a round disc of metal punched from a long strip rolled for a specific thickness of an intended coin. The edge of the coin is not upended/upsetting yet. Ref.

Found this among many coins sold in a flea market at Johor Bahru.

157. johor tin katun coin bar with undecipherable inscription round shape

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

image 2: inscription on the coin

Our smallest katun! Only 7cm of diameter.

Looking at this coin, we also wonder, is this really a coin?

Apparently, this is a round-shaped katun, with a bar and inscriptions stamped into the center of the coin on obverse. The reverse is blank.

The lone inscription could be a part of Adil.


And about the geometry of this coin, one collector at his first glance described this coin as having the shape of a leaf. And if we take a closer look, we can actually see the silhouette of a circle. Probably this is the intended shape of this coin.

Unearthed at Sungai Johor, Kota Tinggi.

156. johor tin katun hexagonal sultan anum unlisted unique

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

image 2: inscriptions on the coin

This tin coin, which was found in the Sungai Johor brought some discussion among Malay Sultanate Coins enthusiasts.

At the first glance, I thought that the inscription on the coin is undecipherable, or perhaps representating a flower.

But upon closer inspection, and thanks to its still good condition, I can still read some of its Jawi inscriptions.

Ibrahim Bakar, author of book titled "Sejarah Matawang Negeri Kedah and Perlis" tried to decipher the inscriptions on this coin as "Sultan Anum" which means Young Sultan - Sultan Muda.

According to him, Young Sultan existed during Johor Sultanate, and was located in Jambi, Indonesia. Jambi, once was a part of Johor's territory.

Is this probably a special issue tin coin by the Young Sultan?

155. malaysia 10 cents 1995 clipped rim

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

My latest catch of clipped planchet coin.

Clip happens at around 6 o'clock of reverse and Blakesley's Effect is quite noticeable at the area opposite of the clipping, at around 12 o'clock. The rim on this area is having some kind of weaknesses and if viewed from side, this area is thinner in its thickness.

Is off-centering is a common phenomenon associated with clipped planchet error?

154. Singapore merchant coin fighting cock series dua keping 1831

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

  Another addition into my Singapore Merchant Coin collection. She was badly circulated it seems. The only two keping of the fighting cock series.

Category	Coin > Singapore Merchant Coin
Country Of Origin	Malaysia / Indonesia / Singapore
Date	1831
Grade	G
Denomination	One Pitis / One Keping
Shape	Round
Weight	4.27g average from SS
Diameter	23mm - 30mm from SS
Thickness	-
Composition	Copper
Population	714,085
Reference	SS24, P.18
Mint	Soho Mint, Birmingham
Category	Normal Circulation Coinage
Demonetized	Yes
Engraver/Designer	-
Designer's Initial	-
Mint Mark	-
Variety	-
Edge	Plain
Obverse	A spurred fighting cock facing right, In Jawi, "Tanah Melayu" (Land of the Malays). Last two tail feathers of the cock are crossed.
Reverse	In Jawi, "Dua Keping 1247" (Two Keping 1247 = 1831)
Extra Note	Rarity level indicated by Saran Singh is R out of RRRR a

153. straits settlements 1 cent 1920 die break

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

      I cherrypicked and paid only RM1 for this die break error coin last night. The cud on this coin looks similar with Dickson's., but of different year.

     Die break error happens when the die used to strike the coin has become damaged, probably due to fatigue and broken away.

   Local collectors often call this error as extra metal. Even though the cud does make this coin look as it is, but in reality, the weight of this coin is exactly the same as a normal one.

152. Kelantan Pitis ss8

image 1: obverse and reverse of Specimen 1

image 2: obverse and reverse of Specimen 2

image 3: inscriptions on Specimen 2

   
       My pair of Kelantan Pitis coins. According to my source, this series is among the rarest of Kelantan Pitis, even rarer than the first Pitis, SS1. Relatively, while my source has a few hundred pieces of pitis coins, he only has 2 pieces of this coin, one in extra fine condition and another in good condition (refer to Image 1). The one in extra fine condition will cost me few hundreds, hence I resorted to a poor condition (Specimen 1).

    And today, I acquired another coin of this series, by a pure luck. Plus, it has an extra feature. It seems this coin has a set of "horns".

   Upon acquisition of the second coin, I decided to part myself with the first coin. But only later I found out that those coins are of different varieties, perhaps they came from different mould sets. A beauty of Malay Sultanate coinage.

Category	Coin > Malay Sultanate > Kelantan
Country Of Origin	Kelantan (Now a state, a part of Malaysia)
Date	1170 - 1882
Grade	G / EF
Denomination	One Pitis / One Keping
Shape	Round
Weight	6.73g average from SS
Diameter	29mm - 30mm from SS
Thickness	-
Composition	Tin
Population	Unknown
Reference	SS8, P.126
Mint
Category	Normal Circulation Coinage
Demonetized	Yes
Engraver/Designer	-
Designer's Initial	-
Mint Mark	-
Variety	2 varieties.
Edge	Plain
Obverse	Within a plain circle, in Jawi, "Khalifatul Mukminin" - Ruler of the Faithful
Reverse	Two plain line circles between the edge and the central hole
Extra Note	Rarity level indicated by Saran Singh is R out of RRRR and RR out of RRRR for retrogaded inscription.

151. 10 SEN 1982 DIE CRACK PROGRESSION?

image 1: obverse and reverse of Coin A

image 2: obverse and reverse of Coin B

image 3: side-by-side comparison of coin A and Coin B

                     Just found the first die crack error coin, Coin A yesterday with my friend in his piggy bank. Quickly I asked him to own this coin as I remember I bought a quite similar crack error coin sometime ago. Could it be a die crack progression set? Both are dated 1982 and they could came from the same dies set. Upon close inspection, I think the crack on Coin A is situated exactly as crack on Coin B, but they are of different nature. The crack of Coin A seems heading a little bit south-west while on Coin B it headed straight bottom. Just my wild initial analysis. What do you think?

150. 10 sen 1999 off-center strike

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

This is an off-centre strike error coin, dated 1999 10 cent Malaysia.

This type of error happens when the planchet is not fed into the coin press correctly, and only certain part of the coin is struck.

There is a difference between an off-centre strike error coin and misaligned die error coin. The difference is a misaligned die error coin is struck in collar but on of the dies (the design) is off centered, while an off center is struck out of collar

To be qualified as an off-centre strike error coin, both the obverse and reverse must be equally off centre and part of the designs elements must be missing

Off-centre strike error coin is a random error, no two specimens are ever exactly alike.

Collectors usually categorized this error in terms percentage of how much the design is missing and the location of the miss-struck. In this case, this is an approximately 10% off-centre, located at 3 o'clock at obverse.

In this specimen, I observed that there are additional features.

At 6 o'clock, there is a "peeled" metal, located at obverse. What had caused this?

And there is also a "scratch" on obverse, around 11 to 12 o'clock.

I love to see the fishtailing of word "BANK" on reverse and the patina on the surfaces of this coin. Considering that this specimen was found among the circulation coin, I guess that I must be in a real luck to meet this coin.



Reference: http://dniewcollectors.blogspot.com/

149. Johor Penjuru Coin Sultan Abdul Jalil Shah

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

One step further into Malay Sultanate coinage. This is truly my first silver coin from group Malay Sultanates. As I still do not have proper instruments to measure its weight, its diameter is approximately 16mm. And it is currently unlisted in Saran Singh's book, nor I can find it elsewhere on the Net. Any comments would be very appreciated. Thanks.

148. Kelantan Pitis ss9

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

image 2: inscriptions on the coin

image 3: inscriptions reworked with translation in Roman

This is one of my Kelantan pitis tin coins that was acquired some weeks ago. As you can refer to image 2 and image 3, the inscription in yellow is unidentified. Saran Singh tried to identify this as "Karam".

Category	Coin > Malay Sultanate > Kelantan
Country Of Origin	Kelantan (Now a state, a part of Malaysia)
Date	1840
Grade	-
Denomination	One Pitis / One Keping
Shape	Round
Weight	6.73g average from SS
Diameter	28mm - 30mm from SS
Thickness	-
Composition	Tin
Population	Unknown
Reference	SS9, P.183
Mint
Category	Normal Circulation Coinage
Demonetized	Yes
Engraver/Designer	-
Designer's Initial	-
Mint Mark	-
Variety	3 variety.
Edge	Plain
Obverse	In Jawi, "Khalifatul Mukminin" - Ruler of the Faithful
Reverse	In Jawi, "Karam? Duriba Sanat 1256 (1840)"
Edge	Plain
Extra Note

147. Penang 2 Pice 1828 - 27 lily cups variety

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

Owh no, my second coin of 2 Pice 1828, in a different variety.

Category	Coin > Penang
Country Of Origin	Penang (Now a state, a part of Malaysia)
Date	1828
Grade	-
Denomination	Two Pice
Shape	Round
Weight	18.72g to 18.98g from SS
Diameter	31.5mm from SS
Thickness	-
Composition	Copper
Population	Unknown
Reference	SS33d, P.15, C.293, KN3.b
Mint	Madras Mint
Category	Normal Circulation Coinage
Demonetized	Yes
Engraver/Designer	-
Designer's Initial	-
Mint Mark	-
Variety	SS33d - 27 lily cups in wreath on reverse (P.14c)
Edge	Plain
Obverse	Within a beaded circle, the Arms, supposters, crest and motto of the East India Company. The shield carries the cross of St. George. The supporters are lions rampant each bearing a standard. The lions stand on a scroll inscribed with the motto "AUSCPICIO REGIS ET SENATUS ANGLIAE" (Under the auspices of the King and the English Parliament). Above the shield is the crest, a lion rampant holding a crown between it's fore paws. Below the motto is the year date 1828.
Reverse	Within a beaded circle near the edge, a circular wreath of 28 lily cups which overlap each other and run clockwise. Within the wreath the Jawi (fusion of Malay and Arabic language) inscription "Pulau Pinang" (Island of Penang).
Edge	Plain
Extra Note

146. Penang 2 Pice 1828 - 28 lily cups variety

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

image 2: reverse of the coin

image 3: obverse of the coin

image 4: chamfered edge

image 5: other view of the coin

     One more step to complete this series! Thank God during recent Hari Raya I managed to acquire this coin at a very affordable price. This costs me my whole Duit Raya! Luckily I no longer receive handsome Duit Raya as I used to 10 years ago. Haha.

     Completing varieties of these coins seems impossible, with this scarce 2 pice 1828 alone has about 8 varieties! The varieties are due to the number of lily cups on reverse. 26 to 34 lily cups were being reported exist by Mr. Saran Singh. There could be unlisted varieties.

    One feature that I would like to point here is I notice that there are reedings on the rim's edge (Refer to image 4). The reeding is angled at 45 degree. The reeding also makes the rim's edge become chamfered.

Category	Coin > Penang
Country Of Origin	Penang (Now a state, a part of Malaysia)
Date	1828
Grade	about Extremely Fine
Denomination	Two Pice
Shape	Round
Weight	18.72g to 18.98g from SS
Diameter	31.5mm from SS
Thickness	-
Composition	Copper
Population	Unknown
Reference	SS33c, P.15, C.293, KN3.b
Mint	Madras Mint
Category	Normal Circulation Coinage
Demonetized	Yes
Engraver/Designer	-
Designer's Initial	-
Mint Mark	-
Variety	SS33e - 28 lily cups in wreath on reverse (P.15e)
Edge	Plain
Obverse	Within a beaded circle, the Arms, supposters, crest and motto of the East India Company. The shield carries the cross of St. George. The supporters are lions rampant each bearing a standard. The lions stand on a scroll inscribed with the motto "AUSCPICIO REGIS ET SENATUS ANGLIAE" (Under the auspices of the King and the English Parliament). Above the shield is the crest, a lion rampant holding a crown between it's fore paws. Below the motto is the year date 1828.
Reverse	Within a beaded circle near the edge, a circular wreath of 28 lily cups which overlap each other and run clockwise. Within the wreath the Jawi (fusion of Malay and Arabic language) inscription "Pulau Pinang" (Island of Penang).
Edge	Plain
Extra Note