Chinese Immigrant Coolie Porcelain Coin (豬仔錢)

These coins are supposedly issued as a form of payment instrument or identification/passage token (e.g. secrete societes) by the kapala foreman to the tenacious immigrants who toiled with blood, sweat and tears as hard-labour coolies on the vast rubber and copra plantations, tin mines and harbours in SE Asia.

(Note - The derogatory 'Pig' term is a reference to the hardship and desperation of the early China-born Chinese who fled afar to escape famine, imperial tyrannical demands and Chinese warlords. The forefathers came in slave-like bondage to shippers who brought them out, discharging them ashore in pig baskets).

A very rare and collectible numismatic item of sober historical hardship. This auction is for a glazed blue 'Chinese seal' calligraphic design coin token with the obverse stamped with Chinese character. Measures approximately 1.5 cm.

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