Indonesia Java Ancient Primitive Iron Ingot Money?

[Lew]

I don't know if this belongs here thought it might be a keris related item? Let me know what it is.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ht_1871wt_1026

[David]

I see no particular keris connection here though i will wait for others to add their imput...

[Battara]

Ahhhhh......................er.................... ...umm.................well.............

[Lew]

Well I did read that these are considered amulets/talisman that guard against evil spirits?

[A. G. Maisey]

I reckon ebay is a wonderful source of information.

I never ever knew these little iron balls were money.

I haven't seen any for a while, so I guess they've all been bought up by coin collectors. I used to see them frequently in the markets in Solo and Jogja, and the sellers always said that they were for good luck, in other words, they were sold as talismans. I've got a heap of them somewhere, you used to be able to buy them for almost nothing.

Never knew they were made from keris either.

Like I said:- ebay is a real good source of info. Maybe even better than Wikipedia.

[Lew]

Alan

I did not think these ingots were money but thought they might have had some cultural significance? So was I duped or is this really an old item?

[A. G. Maisey]

Lew, I have no idea how old , nor how culturally significant these things are.

I used to buy them from street sellers who had their little stalls on the sidewalk running down into the alun-alun utara in Solo --- line of sellers squatting on the ground with a cloth or a woven grass mat spread in front of them with various little curiosities on the mat , stuff like boars tusks, marbles, super cheapy rings,dried monkey penises, agates, little fossils --- that sort of stuff. Probably the main reason I bought anything at all from these sellers was to hone my bargaining skills before I went to the proper markets and started to spend real money. I haven't bought this sort of stuff for probably 30 years or more, but equally I haven't seen these little iron balls for that long also, however, if I went looking they could well still be available. I just don't know.

None of the people I know in Solo who saw them knew what they were, but all these people in Solo would have been family members, not people who are into the weird and esoteric.

Sorry I cannot be of more assistance.

[fearn]

Old iron musket ball, maybe?

Personally, I think you could do a great display showing the life cycle of a keris, with that as the egg form...

Best,

F

[Lew]

Just wanted to post the pics so they don't get lost.

[David]

Originally Posted by fearn

Personally, I think you could do a great display showing the life cycle of a keris, with that as the egg form...

Gentlemen, i see no supportable evidence that these objects have anything to do with keris. While i understand why Lew would raise the issue to begin with i think it is time to put this thread to rest unless someone is really able to make the connection. If we don't even talk about tombak on this forum then i don't see how we can entertain this subject.

[fearn]

I agree that they don't have anything to do with keris, except under the rubric of "keris-like-objects," which they aren't. That comment about them being keris eggs was meant as delayed April Fools' Day sarcasm.

Best,

F

[David]

I have moved this over to the regular forum at Lew's request. Frankly i don't think that these have anything to do with weapons, but maybe something will turn up over here.