Patachine Público Deposited
A Portuguese silver coin of the value of three hundred and twenty Reis, which appeared in the reign of John IV (1640-1656) after the restoration of the House of Braganza. There are doubles and halves of corresponding values.
Teixeira de Aragao (p. 219) mentions an edict of November 13, 1630, by which the value of the Pataca was fixed at six Tangas; this was evidently for the Portuguese colonies. This coin is the one referred to under the name of Patachine by William Barret in his Book of Travels, 1684, who writes of Malacca:
" There is also a sort of silver mony which they call Patachines and is worth 6 Tangas of good mony which is 360 reyes and is stamped with two letters S T which is St. Thomas on one side and the arms of Portugall on the other. "
In Brazil Meili catalogues specimens as early as 1695 struck at Bahia, and 1700 struck at Pernambuco. The colonial issues are frequently counterstamped with higher or lower values. See Butaca.
- Frey's Dictionary (American Journal of Numismatics, Vol. 50, 1916)