| Denomination | Half Xerafim |
| Alloy | Silver |
| Type | Struck |
| Diameter | 21.4 mm |
| Thickness | 2.1 mm |
| Weight Legal | 6.10 gms |
| Weight | 6.17 gms |
| DieAxis | 200° |
| Mint | Malacca/Goa |
The silver Half Xerafim (2.5 Tanga) with Coat of arms of Portugal and Tanga Asia (TA) monogram struck from 1633-1636 for circulation in De Malacca D M, and other Portuguese colonies in Asia during the reign of D. Filipe III (1621-1640).
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| Gomes ; F.Vaz F3.26; KM #?? | ||||||||||||||||||||
Obverse : Crowned Coat of arms of Portugal divides M A (Malacca)
within a circle of dots between two plain line circles.
Reverse : TA (Tanga Asia) monogram divides
D M (De Malacca) with year I6(35)
below, Within circle of dots between two plain line circles.
Known in Ceylon as half Xerafim or 2.5 Tanga. See extract from Codrington (VIII-25p.102) on Full Xerafim coin. The 1914 catalog of coins of the Colombo Museum by Codrington mentions them as Xerafim lists 3 full and 2 half (#80,81) The coins are illustrated in Indo Portuguese Money by J. Ferraro Vaz (Braga 1980) p.148 who calls them Double Tanga.
Text from
* Ceylon Coins and Currency By H. W. Codrington. Colombo 1924
Chapter VIII Portuguese - III Malacca 24, Page 102
* Indo Portuguese Money, by J Ferraro Vaz, . Braga, Portugal 1980.
* Collection Henry Thomas Grogan, J. Schulman, Auction 23-02-1914.
The uncleaned VF/F grade coin was scanned at 600 dpi and displayed at 300 dpi. It was obtained in 2011 December from a Lankan Dealer as part of a small hoard of coins claimed to have been found in Ampara District consequent to Bombing during the 26 year civil War which ended in 2009.
