6 Stuiver – Ceylon

In 1712, Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka) was a colony of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), which had wrested control of the island's lucrative coastal regions from the Portuguese in the previous century. The VOC's primary interest was the monopoly on the island's cinnamon trade, and its economic administration was geared entirely towards extracting profit. The currency situation was therefore complex and fragmented, reflecting both the island's indigenous economy and the demands of European mercantilism. The VOC officially valued transactions in Dutch guilders and stuivers, but these European coins were scarce in local circulation.

The reality on the ground was a multi-currency system. Alongside limited VOC coinage, older Portuguese tangas and a variety of foreign silver coins, particularly Spanish American reales (pieces of eight), circulated widely due to regional trade. Most significantly, the Company continued to recognise and utilise the traditional Ceylonese system of lari—curved silver wires or ribbons—and fanams, small gold coins. These were often used for smaller, everyday transactions and tax payments, especially in the interior Kandyan Kingdom, which remained independent and outside direct Dutch control.

This monetary duality created constant challenges. The VOC frequently adjusted exchange rates between these various media to its own advantage, leading to instability and local discontent. The system was inherently extractive: the Company aimed to draw precious metals into its coffers while compelling cinnamon peelers and other labourers to be paid in less desirable copper doits or goods, a practice that fostered a chronic shortage of usable small-change currency for the local population and stifled broader economic development beyond the VOC's trading priorities.