Brunei pitis
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The pitis was a
currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general def ...
of
Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...
last issued in 1868 which circulated into the 20th century. It is also referred to as the ''picil'' by
Antonio Pigafetta Antonio Pigafetta (; – c. 1531) was an Venetian scholar and explorer. He joined the expedition to the Spice Islands led by explorer Ferdinand Magellan under the flag of the emperor Charles V and after Magellan's death in the Philippine Islands, ...
Brunei History Seen Through Its Coinage
- last retrieved 7 June 2008
and some variants of it were referred to as the ''kue'' and the ''paku'' ( en, piece). It was later replaced by the Straits dollar in Brunei, which is valued at 4000 pitis or 800 pakuOld Brunei Coins
- last retrieved 7 June 2008
and at par with the Spanish dollar.


History

Before the introduction of coins to Brunei, Cowrie shells were used as bartering currency in purchasing small items.Currency Gallery Brunei Darusslam
- last retrieved 7 June 2008
Brunei is also famous for its bronze teapots, which were used as currency in barter trade along the coast of North
Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...
. The first coinage used in Brunei were Chinese coins which were first type of coins to be referred to as the pitis in Brunei. Its use probably started with the Chinese contact with Brunei between the 9th and 12th century. When
Antonio Pigafetta Antonio Pigafetta (; – c. 1531) was an Venetian scholar and explorer. He joined the expedition to the Spice Islands led by explorer Ferdinand Magellan under the flag of the emperor Charles V and after Magellan's death in the Philippine Islands, ...
who was
Ferdinand Magellan Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the East ...
's chronicler visited Brunei in 1521, he wrote "''The money is made out of bronze pierced in the middle in order that it may be strung. On each side of it are four Chinese characters, which are letters of the Great King of China. We call the money picils.''" Picils is a reference to the pitis. In the 16th century, Brunei started issuing its own currency. These coins were known as pitis, with the Chinese "pitis" being referred to as ''kue'' to differentiate them from the Bruneian coins. Chinese coins continued to circulate in Brunei until around the second half of the 19th century. In addition to pitis and kue, silver
Spanish dollars The Spanish dollar, also known as the piece of eight ( es, Real de a ocho, , , or ), is a silver coin of approximately diameter worth eight Spanish reales. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content ...
circulated with an exchange rate of 4000 pitis = 1 dollar. Iron ingots were also used as money, with 100 flat, inch square pieces worth 1 dollar. Miniature cannons between to a foot long were also used as currency. In 1906, Sultan Hashim agreed to have a British Resident in Brunei. He also acquiesced that the Straits dollar, used by the British in the Straits Settlement (Malaya), Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak, should be used in Brunei.Brunei Currency Notes before 1967
/ref> Despite the introduction of the Straits dollar, the previous local monies were still used with peculiar exchange rates in the earlier days. All the previous pitis coins were called ''paku'' ( en, piece) where 8 ''paku'' were equal to 1 cent or ''kayu'' (''sakayu''). However, officially, 4000 pitis equaled one dollar.


Coins

Brunei's first coins were struck in a tin-lead alloy. These are further subdivided into about three sets. The earliest types bore an anonymous, flowery design. These were followed by issues of unnamed sultans. Finally, coins bearing the names of known Sultans were issued. These coins were struck from about the 16th century to about the 19th century. Coins of the unnamed Sultans have the honorific title of the Sultan minted on the coins. Some of the titles includes Malikul-Adil (The Just Sultan) and Malikul-Thahir (The Victorious Sultan). The title is generic though it has been speculated that the coins belonged to that of Sultan Hassan who ruled between 1605 and 1620. The first pitis issued in Brunei with a definite date was that issued by Sultan Abdul Momin, who ruled from 1853 to 1885. The principal metal of this coin is
lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
with some
tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
content. On the front, the coin shows the Royal umbrellas and other Brunei state insignia. The coin also has an inscription translated as "By order of the State Financial Administration of Brunei, in the year of the Prophet 1285". The year of the
Prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...
1285, or 1285
Hijrah The Hijrah or Hijra () was the journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina. The year in which the Hijrah took place is also identified as the epoch of the Lunar Hijri and Solar Hijri calendars; its date eq ...
(AH 1285), is the date according to the Islamic calendar and it corresponds to AD 1868. The coins were of two denominations - and 1 pitis. The last Sultan to issue his own coin was Sultan Hashim who issued the "star coin"Image of Star pitis
/ref> in 1886 (printed as AH 1304 on the coin) which was minted in Birmingham, England. These coins were bronze and have on the
obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''o ...
a star inside a circle with an Arabic inscription outside. The
reverse Reverse or reversing may refer to: Arts and media * ''Reverse'' (Eldritch album), 2001 * ''Reverse'' (2009 film), a Polish comedy-drama film * ''Reverse'' (2019 film), an Iranian crime-drama film * ''Reverse'' (Morandi album), 2005 * ''Reverse'' ...
has a "1" inside a circle with "''SULTANATE OF BRUNEI 1304''".


See also

*
Brunei dollar The Brunei dollar ( sign: B$, Malay: ''ringgit Brunei'', currency code: ''BND''), has been the currency of the Sultanate of Brunei since 1967. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively B$ to distinguish it from othe ...
*
Coins of the Brunei dollar The coins of the Brunei dollar are part of the physical form of current Brunei currency, the Brunei dollar. They have changed through time along with Brunei itself. A British protectorate from 1888 until 1983, it is currently an independent member ...
*
Kelantan keping The keping was the currency of Kelantan until 1909 when it was replaced by the Straits dollar. It was subdivided into 10 ''pitis''. Coins were struck in tin in denominations of 1 pitis (holed), 1 and 10 keping. One piti coins were made from tin ...
*
Trengganu keping The keping was the currency of Trengganu until 1909 when it was replaced by the Straits dollar. It was subdivided into 10 ''pitis''. Coins were issued in denominations of 1 pitis (tin), 1 keping (copper) and 10 keping (tin). See also * Kelantan ...


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brunei Pitis Economy of Brunei Currencies of Brunei Modern obsolete currencies