Straits Settlements Bronze Coin Discovered at Sikes Farmstead

A Well-Traveled Artifact Discovered at Sikes Historic Farmstead

One of the more unusual items recovered and now displayed is a very badly corroded, worn, and bent square coin. This coin had traveled a very long way: it is a Straits Settlements One Cent bronze coin, minted in 1920.

A curio case in the Museum Room at the Sikes Historic Farmstead has a selection of artifacts unearthed as part of the 2008 and 2009 archaeological excavations conducted by Palomar College Archaeology Department. For two semesters, under the co-direction of Dr. Phil DeBarros and Anne P. Cooper, students recovered numerous objects which provided an insight into the life at the Sikes farm over the decades.

About the Straits Settlements

The Straits Settlements were established in 1826 to encompass the territories controlled by the British East India Company in Asia. They originally consisted of 4 individual settlements: Malacca, Dinding, Penang, and Singapore. Eventually the Federated Malay States (Perak, Selangor, Pahang, and Negeri Sembilan) as well as the Unfederated Malay States (Perlis, Kehah, Kelantan and Terengganu) became part of the Settlements. By 1867 the Straits Settlements came under the direct control of the British Empire and became a crown colony.

Coinage used in the Straits Settlements over the years was complicated. By 1844, the Governor-General of India authorized the issue of coinage, in part as an attempt to control the complicated system of various monetary systems from around the globe that were being used and traded loosely. When the British Empire took control, that government attempted to rein in the monetary chaos by minting their own coinage.

The British Straits Settlements coins, issued between 1871 and 1935, bear the inscription of “Straits Settlements” and displayed the profile of the reigning monarch, Queen Victoria, King Edward VII or King George V. Despite having a government controlled monetary system in place, the Straits Settlements economy still accepted and traded using currencies from several nations.

From 1916 through 1935, square shaped coins were introduced into the coin series. Bronze one cent and half cent square coins were issued. The coinage of the Straits Settlements continued to be used until the end of 1952, after which it was demonetized.

How did this small Straits Settlements 1920 One Cent coin end up at Sikes Farmstead? And how did it become bent? We will never know for sure, however, ideas abound. Let your imagination run wild during your next visit to the Sikes Farmstead. Be sure to ask your friendly and knowledgeable docent to point out the coin. We would love our visitors to share their thoughts with us.

Written by: Anita Hissem, Friends of Sikes Adobe Member