Objects from the Tui gold mine, Pahang
This short note by M.W.F. Tweedie reports expert identifications of bronze objects previously recovered from the Tui Gold Mine, Pahang, and a Chinese coin found there, providing evidence for the date and origin of mining activity at the site.
Tweedie had reported the objects in 1947 and sought expert commentary. Dr. Schuyler van R. Camman of the University of Pennsylvania identified the ring (fig. 1) as a good-luck ring bearing the Chinese character fu (happiness) in archaic ornamental script, with a possible second character lu (material happiness) on the worn left side; the script type is undatable as it persisted for decorative use into the modern period (p. 219). Mr. F. Pridmore, F.N.S., identified fig. 2 as a balance beam for a small two-pan scale of European pattern obtained through trade, undatable between A.D. 350 and the 19th century, and fig. 4 as a suspender ring for a dachang (p. 220). A coin inscribed Ch’ien Lung T’ung Pao / Pao-che was dated to the Ch’ien Lung period (1736–1796), Chechiang Province mint (p. 220).
Tweedie concludes that, with the exception of the European-type balance beam, all objects are of Chinese origin and none indicates great antiquity. The coin could have been dropped any time after the mid-18th century, and the balance points to contact with European traders. Taken with the preceding note on Hsieh Ching Kao’s account, the evidence suggests the objects are relics of Chinese gold miners using the Kelantan–Galas–Tembeling–Jelai inland route, with mining and traffic in operation about the turn of the 18th to 19th century (p. 220).