Tin ingot
Encyclopedia
Tin ingots were a trading currency unique to Malacca
Malacca
Malacca , dubbed The Historic State or Negeri Bersejarah among locals) is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south...

. Cast in the shape of a peck, or dou in Chinese, each block weighs just over 1 pound (0.45359237 kg). Ten blocks made up one unit called a small bundle, and 40 blocks made up one large bundle.

Details of tin production in early Malacca were recorded in the 1436 book Description of the Starry Raft
Description of the Starry Raft
Description of the Starry Raft is written in year 1436 by Fei Xin, who had participated in thethird, fifth, and seventh of expeditions of the Ming fleets to the Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean commanded by the eunuch Zheng He.The book contains descriptions of places, peoples, cultures, etc.,...

by Fei Xin
Fei Xin
Fei Xin was a member of the military personnel of the fleet of the Ming dynasty admiral Zheng He, known as the author of a book about the countries visited by Chinese ships.-Biography:...

, a translator of Admiral Zheng He
Zheng He
Zheng He , also known as Ma Sanbao and Hajji Mahmud Shamsuddin was a Hui-Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who commanded voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa, collectively referred to as the Voyages of Zheng He or Voyages of Cheng Ho from...

.
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