Sale: Triton VIII, Lot: 1710. Estimate $300.  Closing Date: Monday, 10 January 2005.  Sold For $550. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

MALAYSIA, Portuguese Malacca. Manuel I. 1495-1521. Tin Bastardo (49.46 gm, 6h). Afonso de Albuquerque, governor 1509-1515. First series, struck 1511. D M P R DE PV SOR D I E MAA, armillary sphere / +CRVX XPI NOSTRE SPES VNICA, voided cross. Vaz E1.16; Gomez, Portuguesas 16; MNI 3146. Good VF, mottled patina with sharp devices. Rare. ($300)

With the arrival of Vasco da Gama at Kalikut in 1498 the Portuguese were the first Europeans to establish a presence in India. The second Governor of the East, Afonso de Albuquerque, defeated the combined fleets of the Indian Ocean traders in 1509, and with the capture of Goa and Malacca the following year made Portugal master of the eastern trade routes. The coinages he authorized in Goa in 1510 and Malacca in 1511 were the first issues for the new European colonies in the east. This earliest tin coinage of Malacca was almost unobtainable until a few years ago, when several hoards began to appear on the market.