Rooster standing left, Land of Malay, C R Read, one keping AH 1250 (= AD 1834) // Flower, Lontara inscription Land of Bugis, one keping 1250 (=1834). 21mm, 1.75 grams. Mint of Soho in Handsworth, UK.  Numista #48334; Singh# SS 42-43; KM# Tn2; Pr# 33.

This coin was issued by Christopher Ridout Read, a notable merchant from the firm A.L. Johnston & Company, Singapore, following the then recent trend of using cock token in trade. The coin's "Tana Ugi" legend on the reverse, presumably the Bugis homeland in South Sulawesi, was chosen by Read to avoid legal suite from Dutch East Indies companies (as had happened to previous tokens) who did not have jurisdiction in Sulawesi (Singh 1986: 446-447). It was probably also chosen so that Bugis sailors frequenting Singaporean port would readily adopt them. In some parts of Sulawesi, the use of these coins persisted until the early 20th century.