Through studies of a copper coin found on an Australian beach, scientists have concluded that Portuguese sailors may have reached Oceania 250 years before Captain James Cook.
The Kilwa Coin and Its Australian Mystery
The theory is being examined by Australian scientists as they try to trace the origins of an African currency — a Kilwa coin, originally from Tanzania — which was found off Australia’s coast. How the coin, which had been remote for almost a thousand years, ended up on Wessel Island, off the coast of northern Australia, remains unclear.
One possible explanation is that the Portuguese, who invaded Kilwa in 1505, carried the coin with them during their travels through Southeast Asia.
The Timor-Leste Connection
Portuguese sailors arrived in Timor-Leste around 1515. From there, the Australian mainland was potentially within reach — just days away by monsoon wind.
Archaeologist Mike Hermes made the case plainly:
“The Portuguese arrived in Timor between 1514 and 1515 — to think that they were no more than three days to the east with the monsoon wind is absurd. We weigh and measure the coin, and it is practically the same as a coin of Kilwa. And if it is, well, that could change everything.”
Hermes also noted that Wessel Island is the only place outside Kilwa and the Arabian Peninsula where such a coin has been found.
A Well-Established Trade Route
Australian researchers examining the coin have mapped a sea route that was well established by 1500:
- East Africa — Kilwa (present-day Tanzania)
- Arabian Peninsula — Oman
- South Asia — India
- Southeast Asia — Malaysia and Indonesia
This route places Portuguese navigators in the broader region at precisely the right time.
Earlier European Claims to Australia
The history of early European contact with Australia has long been contested:
| Year | Explorer | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1504 | Binot Paulmier de Gonneville (France) | Claimed to land near the “eastern Cape of Good Hope” — later proved to be Brazil |
| 1515 | Portuguese sailors | Present in Timor-Leste; potentially within days of the Australian coast |
| 1606 | Willem Janszoon (Netherlands) | First confirmed European landing in Australia |
| 1770 | Captain James Cook (Britain) | Landed at Botany Bay and made a British claim to the continent |
If the Kilwa coin proves to be of Portuguese origin, it would push back the timeline of European contact with Australia by over 150 years — and place Timor-Leste at the heart of one of history’s great geographical debates.