Early Sumatran Coins

Coins may have been first minted in Sumatra at some time in the 11th century. Sandalwood flower coins much like those of Java, and made of gold, electrum, and silver alloy, have been found at several 11th century sites in Sumatra including Barus, Bengkulu, and Muara Jambi, and also in South Thailand. These examples were very well made in comparison with silver alloy examples found in Java. Silver coins are rare in Sumatra; most are made of gold. No ancient coins have yet been reported as having been found at Palembang, despite abundant evidence that this was the site of an important port for centuries. This suggests that coinage may have had a limited role in the early Sriwijayan economy. International trade was probably conducted either through the mechanism known as tribulary trade, as in the case of China, or in another form known as administered trade. In this system, equivalencies were established between commodities through diplomatic negotiations rather than by bargaining.

Source: Indonesian Heritage Book Series

Early Indonesian Coins

Found an interesting article from Indonesian Heritage book:

"Gold coins of 9th and early 10th century Java are stamped with the character ta in nagari script on the obverse, an abbreviation of tahil, probably signifying that the coins were legal tender for tax payments. The same character remained on coins until the Kadiri period in the 12th century.

Silver coins in central Java are quite different from the gold coins from the same period: in shape, renge of denominations, and manner of treatment. The gold coins were made in the shape of cubes, carefully crafted and very uniform in size and gold content. The silver coins are round and are called 'sandalwood flower' coins, after the four-petallled flower motif found on the reverse. They lasted from the early 9th to the 14th century. The same flower appears on one side of older silver ingots from central Java; the other side is stamped with a flowing vase design, which is never found on coins. The obverse of the sandalwood flower coins bears the nagiri script character ma, (abb, masa). This character degenerated quickly, perhaps because it is different from the kawi letter ma. The shape of the coin, its weight, and possibly its siver content all changed rapidly in about a century. The one masa coin shifted in the early 10th century from thick and flat to cup-shaped, and thin (about two milimeters). These coins presumably served as small change and were probably made by smoths in the markets for use in market transactions."

Ming's Old Coins Founded in Nganjuk

At least 1.749 old coins founded by Manirin (50), a red onion farmer in Balonggebang Village, Gondang, Nganjuk Regency, East Java. These coins estimated as Chinese remains. The size of them is bigger than the 500 rupiahs coin. In the center of it, there is a square hole and 4 chinese characters. Each coin has different characters.