Chinese coinage

Apart from the silver ingots, the cargo of the Intan Wreck included several hundreds of coins and other forms of currency. More than one hundred Chinese copper coins, minted in 918AD, were excavated. This currency could be seen as the precursor to the huge influx of Chinese coinage in the Southeast Asian economy during the 1070s when the Song dynasty produced over 6 billion copper coins.

Also discovered in the wreck were four small gold coins, strongly suggesting the minting of indigenous currency on Sumatra as early as the mid-tenth century. This would be exemplary for the huge boom of commercial prosperity on Sumatra during the period. Flecker points out that because the Intan-ship was probably on its way from Sumatra, which possessed gold and silver resources, to Java, which lacked extractable gold, it is very likely the coins originated from Sumatran territory. Furthermore, the engravings on the coins’ obverse are recognizable as a degenerated adaptation of the Nagari (a tenth century north Indian script) abbreviated indication for a weight of 2,4 grams, the so-called Ma-character. Different variations of this writing have been found throughout Southeast Asia, but this specific type has only been found on coins originating from the western shores of Sumatra.