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.

129. Sarawak half cent 1933H

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

    I am always fascinated by coins of non-integer denomination. In my years as a kid, I had had the perception that the lowest denomination was one cent. And when I discovered my first coin, which is a 1920 1 cent coin, I was so proud of it. I showed it to almost every uncles I have. One of my uncle in Kelantan, I called him Ayah Long, claimed to me that he has a more special coin. Then he showed me a 1/2 cent of Straits Settlements, dated 1932, glued at the back side of his watch. I was so fascinated by that coin that even I had no gut in asking him to own that coin. It must be very special and very rare, then I thought. I even thought that I will never own that coin when I grow up.

   And now 12 years have passed. Recently I met him, and I had show him my collection. This time it is his turn to be fascinated by my collection. So I guess, possessing half coins is always be one of my dreams, in my collecting journey.

  And only recently when I started to collecting more systematically, 1 year ago, I realised that there are a lot more of half coins that need to be collected. And does not include the quarter cent series, which is even scarcer than half cent series.

  That is for the story side, and for the technical side, does anyone know what had caused the black shadows to form on the coin's surface? A haunted coin?

99. SARAWAK 1 CENT 1863

image 1: obverse and reverse of the coin

Country of Origin: Sarawak ( Now a state, part of Malaysia )

Date: 1863

Denomination: One Cent

Shape: Round
Orientation: Medal Alignment ↑↑

Weight: 9.33g

Edge: Plain

Diameter: 29.0mm
Thickness: -

Composition: Copper

Population: Unknown

Reference: KM3, KN4a

Mint: R. Heaton & Son, Birmingham

Category: Normal Circulation Coin

Demonetized: Yes

Engraver/Designer: Birmingham Engraver, Joseph Moore
Variety: -

   I hunted this coin for quite a long time but every time I want to buy this coin, the price tag is out of reach for me. Fortunately not many collectors are interested in this coin which has many edge nicks and flaws. I bought this for USD17.