Japa?i.] 



ORIENTAL COMMERCE. 



525 



which, the rent of the Dutch factory and houses, which is 5,580 tales, and 

 that of the Chinese factory, which is 16,000 tales a year, forms a total of 

 453,580 tales, which the foreign commerce produces annually to the town of 

 NangasackL 



Coin*. — Accounts are kept in tales, mace, and candarines ; 10 canda- 

 rines make 1 mace, and 10 mace 1 tale. The Dutch reckon the tale at 

 3} florins, equal to about 6s. 2d. The gold coins current are the new and 

 old itjib, and cobangs, or kopangs ; the silver coins are the nandiogin, ita- 

 ganne, and kodama. They are in general very simple, struck plain and 

 unadorned, the greater part of them without any rim round the margin, 

 and most of them without any determined value. For this reason they are 

 always weighed by the merchants, who put their chop or stamp upon them, 

 to signify that the coin is standard weight, and unadulterated. 



The new cobangs are oblong, rounded at the ends, and flat, about two 

 inches long, and rather more than two inches broad, scarcely thicker than 

 an English farthing, of a pale yellow colour ; the die on one side consists of 

 several cross lines stamped, and at both ends there is a paraJlelogramical 

 figure, with raised letters on it, and, besides, a moonlike figure, with a 

 flower on it in relief. On the other side is a circular stamp, with raised 

 tetters on it, and within the margin, towards one end, two smaller sunk 

 stamps with raised letters, which are different on each cobang ; these are 

 valued at 60 mace. There are old cobangs occasionally met with, which 

 are of fine gold, somewhat broader than the new. 



The old cobangs weigh 371 Dutch asen, or 275 English grains ; and 

 the gold is said to be 22 carats fine, which would give 44s. 7d. for the value 

 of the old cobang. But the Japanese coins are reckoned at Madras only 

 87 touch, which is 20 £4 carats ; this reduces the old cobang to 41s. lOd. 

 The new cobangs weigh 180 grains ; the gold is about 16 carats fine, and 

 the value 21s 3d. The oban is thrice the value of the cobang. 



The itjib is called by the Dutch golden bean, and is made of pale gold, 

 of a parallelogramical figure, and flat, rather thicker than a farthing, with 

 many raised letters on one side, and two figures, or flowers in relief on the 

 other ; the value of this is one fourth of a cobang. There are old itjibs 

 also to be met with ; these are thicker than the new ones, and in value 22 

 mace 5 candarines. 



Nandiogin is a parallelogramical flat silver coin, of twice the thickness 

 of a halfpenny, one inch long, and half an inch broad, and formed of fine 

 silver. The edge is stamped with stars, and within the edges are raised dots. 

 One side is marked all over with raised letters, and the other on its lower 



