| SPECIFICATIONS | |
| Denomination | Tanga |
| Alloy | Silver |
| Type | Struck |
| Diameter | 15. mm |
| Thickness | _._ mm |
| Weight mean | 2.68 gms |
| Weight | 2.27 gms |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Smooth |
| DieAxis | _____° |
| Mint | Colombo |
Silver - Tanga
The silver Tanga with Coat of arms of Portugal and Gridiron of Saint Laurence struck in Colombo, fort São Lourenço for circulation in Ceilão, undated and without mint initial during the reign of D. Filippe II (1598-1621) and D. Filippe III (1621-1640).
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| Codrington PL 113 ; Gomes F2:22.01 ; KM #8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The emblem of Saint Laurence is the gridiron with the flames below
on which he was martyr in 258 AD.
Codrington (VIII-22:c,p.100) lists it among undated silver coins
of rough execution with crowned Coat of arms and the Gridiron.
For the undated Ceylon Tangas Codrington (VIII-23:p.102) gives a range
of weight from 2.08 to 2.60 grams with a mean of 2.29 grams
stating that the standard was probably as high as 2.60 grams.
For this type issued under D. Filippe III (1621-1640) Gomes (F3:16.01) gives a weight range of 2.16-3.2 grams.
The undated gridiron Tangas of this Era followed a small issue of undated Tangas bearing TA monogram and were succeeded by dated issues commencing 1631.
In Grogan section on Ceylon the Tanga is illustrated with (1317) -- 16/15.5 mm and 2.36 grams and attributed to D. Filippe II (1598-1621) with No Date (1619-1630).
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.