Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Pitis Bank

Pitis Bank is located in front of the Kota Bharu Istana Besar and opposite the Kelantan Royal Regalia Museum. As the name implies, the building was first used as a state treasury during the reign of Sultan Muhammad III (1889-1890). Pitis was the old currency of the state.

In 1906, Kelantan began to produce its own currency called "pitis". Made from tin, the "pitis" was circular with a hole in the middle.

The Bank Pitis was utilized as a strong room to keep the state treasury and important documents belonging to the Kelantan government at the time.

Apart from "pitis", the other currencies used in Kelantan from the 16th to 19th century are the "kijang" coin, the "sun dinar" and gold coins with Arabic inscriptions on both sides.

In 1909 the production of Kelatanese coins ceased when British started producing coins for the straits settlement. The Bank Pitis no longer functional, as the first trading bank of Kelantan, the Mercentile Bank of India Ltd (Bank Kerapu) was set up in 1912.

1 comment:

escape said...

old and i cant feel that anything can be kept safe there.