Featured PERANAKAN SILVER COIN BELT W/BUCKLE

Yes, I bought another one.

I've never had a Peranakan silver coin-belt, before. I know they exist, and I've seen photos of them, but I've never actually held one, before now, that is. I've always wanted one of these, so I'm super excited!!

Bought it from a dealer in Singapore who had held onto it for years. It's made from antique (800 silver) Straits Settlements coins (20c & 50c), which date between 1887 - 1896.

The S-buckle is unmarked, but it looks like silver, and has a fish engraved on it.

The first two photos are the seller's pictures, and the last two are mine, taken after giving it all a thorough polish to remove the grime from the silver...

 

does it fit ?

nice find !

 

HAHA!! No!!

The only Peranakan belt I have which DOES fit is one of my ancestors' ones (the one that you see in my profile-pic).

The other belts I have are far too small. They were almost all made for women, which accounts for the size (men did wear them too, but not as often), and usually when they were very young, which is why they're so short.

 

Thanks.

It's summer in Australia right now, so I'm mostly wearing sarongs around the house, because of the heat.

Here's me wearing the belt that you see in my profile picture...



...there's rings incorporated into the silver chain, which act like belt loops, so you can adjust the fit. But this is how they would traditionally been worn.

 

Presto! Your new belt is now a necklace. Right? Nice find!

 

Hah!! It'll be a heavy necklace!! Here it is on the scale...

 

There once was a man from Australia,
with Peranakan silver, and he'd tell ya
how it was made & where it was from,
and he'd wear it , as part of his regalia !!

..

 

Keeping in touch with your Irish roots, are yah, laddie?

But yeah, coin belts like these were basically the lower-end of Peranakan silver belts. They were extremely popular, so families would scrape together any spare silver change coinage, and turn them into belts like these. I've sen some which are more elaborate, I've seen ones which are simpler. If you couldn't afford this (or a chain belt like the one in my picture), then the "last resort" was to buy a nickel belt, plated in silver, but that was really scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Belts made of gilt brass also existed, although I've never personally come across one.

 

more like Anglo - Saxon.......... but who's counting !!

 

The collection as of today...



...so that makes the collection fully 2/3 solid silver.

 

Great collection, Shangas.

Clearly lower end, but with a very nice visual impact. Something for everyone, as it should be.
Nice fishy on the clasp for fertility and prosperity, a good start for a Peranakan marriage.

 

I have a NA leather and silver hatband that I was once skinny enough to wear as a belt! Ah, the good old days.