Calcutta Mint, Introduction of Machinery,
1790 to c1802
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In
1789, a major report about the coinage of the Bengal Presidency concluded
that the problems of batta as well as
counterfeiting, filing, drilling etc, could be overcome by the introduction
of coin production following the “European” method. John Prinsep, of course,
had already done this but most of his machinery and skilled employees had
been rejected by the |
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The
designs of the gold and silver coins produced in the Calcutta mint by 1790,
were based on the coins produced in the Murshīdābād mint
before the British had acquired control. The major difference was that the RY
was fixed at 19 although the Hijri year continued to change annually. This
annual change continued until 1202 on the gold and 1205 on the silver coins.
Gold
mohur and silver rupee prior to the introduction of milling On
The Board agreed in
opinion with Mr Shore as to the principle on which he proposes the recoinage
of the rupees should take place, but previous to adopting them finally, think
it necessary to ascertain whether the machines and implements for coining and
milling money in the European manner are ready or can be procured or made in
this country, and whether there are any persons who are acquainted with the
manner of fixing them up and making use of them. The Mint Master and Lt
Golding being in attendance are called before the Board… The
coinage was to be undertaken in all four mints in Bengal: Calcutta,
Murshīdābād, Patna and Dacca and the mint master, Herbert
Harris, provided a list of equipment that he considered necessary for
undertaking the new coinage in the new way: 1
flattening mill 2
cutting machines 1
stamping press 2
milling machines for graining the edges of the rupees 12
brass ingots Implements to be made to complete the
machines for four mints 3
small cutting machines 2
stamping presses 7
milling machines for graining To be purchased 2
flattening mills Implements ready in the mint 2
flattening mills complete 1
small cutting machine 4
large cutting machines 2
stamping presses complete Lieut
Golding being asked whether with the assistance of the artificers in the
arsenal, he could make all the above machines and implements for coining
money in the European method, he replies that he is of opinion that he could
make them without difficulty and that he entertains no doubt but that he
could put them up. Being
asked in what time that machines for one mint could be completely put
together so as to commence the coinage of money, he replies that it could be
done in considerably less time than three months, and refers to a drawing of
the machines delivered in by the Mint Master and executed by Mr Aspinshaw,
the foreman of the mint, from which it appears that in three months one
machine complete might be put together and rooms built for the reception of
it. The
Mint Master being asked whether there are any persons in this country who are
acquainted with the mode of coining money in the European manner, he replies
that there are two under his department, Mr Aspinshaw, the foreman of the
mint, and his assistant, Benjamin Hughes; that the former is at present
dangerously ill, but that the latter is now in attendance. Benjamin
Hughes being called before the Board and asked if he was ever employed in any
of the mints in Europe, replies that he never was, but that he is acquainted
with the method of coining money, as practiced in Europe, having been
employed by Mr Binseh (Prinsep?) at Pultah in the
late copper coinage, which was performed with machines and according to the
European method. Being
asked whether he is acquainted with the mode of putting together the European
coining machines, he replies in the affirmative. Being asked whether he
understands the mode of milling or graining money and whether he could make
the machines required for the purpose, he answers in the affirmative to both
questions. Being
required to state whether he could cut the screws for the fly presses, he
replies that he could. Ordered
that Lieut Golding be directed to proceed without
delay to make such parts of the machines and such of the implements as are of
the most difficult construction in order that there may remain no doubt of
the practicability of making the machines and apparatus for completing the
recoinage of the silver in the manner proposed. Both
Mr Aspinshaw and Mr Hughes had worked for Prinsep at Pultah and it is notable
that Aspinshaw produced the drawings for the new machinery, although he died
very soon afterwards, and Hughes was instrumental in building many of the
machines and worked at the London was informed of the new project
in January 1790 [3]: In the 37 paragraph of
our letter, dated the 5th November, from the Revenue Department,
we referred you to our proceeding of 25th October upon the
defective state of the currency in this country. We have the honor to transmit,
in the packet of the In
April 1790 London sent a letter supporting the proposed new coinage [4]: We have traced upon your
records the various methods that have been adopted for putting a stop to the
exorbitant batta demanded by the shroffs and others on the exchange of silver
for gold – your endeavours to remedy an abuse of such generally pernicious
tendency are entitled to our warmest commendations. Your last dispatch of Lord
Cornwallis in his letter of the 2nd of August has given it as his
opinion that there appears to be no effectual remedy for the evil but a
general new coinage of all the circulating silver of the country into rupees,
or sub-divisions of rupees, of exactly the same weight, standard and denomination,
and his Lordship has assured us that he shall spare no pain and neglect no
precautions to accomplish, with safety, this salutary work. When we consider
the proposition simply, and without having regard to local prejudices, our
assent naturally, and, as it were, in an instant, follows the proposal. But
we wished to learn the opinion that may have been formed of it by the natives
and others upon the spot, and we are happy to find by the reports of the
several commercial residents and agents in the provinces, entered on your
commercial consultations of 22nd May last, and by the opinion of
the Board of Trade on the subject, that by the establishing of only one
single coin throughout the country, no inconvenience or loss of any
consideration is likely to weigh against its utility. If the reports of our
servants in the revenue branch (who we observe have been consulted) shall be
equally favourable to the project, we trust his Lordship will be able to
effect his purpose previous to his departure for In
the meantime work had been progressing on the machinery for the I have to request you
will lay before the Right Honble the Governor General in Council the
accompanying schedules of the machinery and work done in the mint since the
determination of his Lordship to strike the new coin after the mode practiced
in England. In addition to this we have in many instances had the tools to
make before we could begin the work. The
present pay of the die cutters in the mint is sicca rupees 185 per month but
to perform the cutting as neat as they can do it, two other men whose wages
amount to sicca rupees 120 per month are required for this mint alone, and
two men for each of the other mints. This will increase the establishment to
full 500 rupees per month. Mr Spalding who has been bred to the dye sinking
business has offered to cut the dyes for all the mints and employ and pay the
workmen for sicca rupees 500 per month, including his own wages, and I beg
leave to recommend that his offer be accepted as it will save the Company the
amount of his wages and we shall be always certain of having the dyes
accurately cut, and the same for every mint. Lieutenant
Humphreys having informed me of an opportunity of supplying the mint with
some very valuable tools, particularly in the dye sinking business, I have to
request I may be permitted to purchase them for the use of the mints. The sum
will not exceed sicca rupees 700. The
movement of the great wheel of the mill not being sufficiently quick to roll
out the quantity of gold and silver we shall require, and finding if I began
to coin immediately, I should in a few days be obliged to stop the business
to add another pair of rollers, I have with the approbation of Lieutenant
Golding, who constructed the mill, prepared the frame of another set of
rollers in such a manner as to fit them on the spindle of the present, by
which means, the wheel being very powerful, can turn both, and we shall have
separate rollers for the gold and silver or apply both to the silver as
occasion may require. As
soon as the new rollers are fixed, we shall begin to train the people in the
several occupations of flattening, cutting, filing, adjusting, milling and
striking in copper, till we get them expert enough at the business to
commence the new coinage. There
then follows a list of the machinery that had been built (see Appendix at the
end of this chapter). Mr Spalding seems to have been a great
find and managed to invent a new way of producing dies that required less
labour and would be difficult for forgers to copy, although he felt that he
should be well rewarded for his efforts [6]: Since I wrote you last
on the subject of dye sinking, I have made an improvement in the business
which will enable me to do as much in an hour as I would before in three
days. Some men would keep this improvement a secret but on the contrary I
make it my boast, being convinced no advantage will be taken of my candour. In
consequence of this improvement, I beg leave to make some alteration in my
proposal for salary. In my last letter I mentioned I would require natives to
assist me. Now I want none, tho’ I must recommend
the Company keeping and paying a native who I will instruct in the business,
with the motive of providing against my indisposition. In
my last I mentioned I would engage to sink dyes for all the mints. At the
time I wrote my letter, I was not aware of the probability of copper coin
being wanted, and consequently an additional number of dyes required. But
with or without the additional trouble of making dyes for the copper coinage,
I consider I merit sicca rupees 500 per month as coiner and dye sinker and
having found a method much more accurate than that of copying the dyes by
hand, a method (mine is) which must preclude the possibility of the natives
forging the dye. And
it ought to be considered the improvement I have made, instead of being any
additional expense to the Company, is a saving, as I don’t ask so much as
coiner and dye sinker as it would cost the Company for dye sinkers only,
supposing the natives capable of sinking the dyes in the manner they are wanted,
which however they are not. From
the extract above, it is apparent that a new copper coinage was under
consideration in 1790, although nothing further was done for several years.
It is also clear that Mr Spalding was responsible for centralising die production
in In
June 1790 the Calcutta mint master, Herbert Harris, explained why the new
coinage had been delayed and also informed the Board that he had identified
another of Prinsep’s ex-workmen who would be very helpful to him [7]: I have received your
letter of yesterday desiring I will inform Government when the new coinage
will commence and what is the cause of the delay. When
the first rollers were put up in order to try the mill, we found them very
defective in many places and discovered that one pair was not sufficient to roll
out the quantity of metal wanted, but as we every day expected new ones from
Mr Golding, I had hopes the machine would soon be completed, as we had
contrived the means of adding (with the concurrence of that gentleman)
another pair of rollers of a different size to be turned by the spindle of
the machine. To fit these we were obliged to make a new frame and cogs, also
the necessary rack work for adjusting the rollers. As the nice parts of this
could only be accomplished by Mr Hughes, the business proceeded slow. When
Mr Golding gave us notice of his having failed in the tempering of his
rollers, it was necessary to consider how we could carry on the business with
the present rollers, and it was judged expedient to construct a polishing
machine, drawings of which we had from England, for to repair and keep the
rollers in order. This machine is absolutely necessary were the rollers ever
so good as they grow rough from the silver passing through them and require
polishing every three or four months. Mr
Hughes is now employed making this machine and he declares it will now take
him 20 days to finish it. He has also forged a pair of rollers, one of which
is now turning in the lathe and has every appearance of being perfect, and I
hope in a few days to be able to acquaint his Lordship that we have succeeded
in tempering it. A
large stock of dyes was also necessary to be prepared before the coinage
could be begun as the steel is very apt to fly from the pressure of the
stroke. Mr
Spalding has pointed out to me a native who was bred up under Mr Aspenshaw in the Pulta mint and has obtained some
knowledge of dye sinking, and is a very correct and ingenious workman. This
man is at present in the employ of Mr Howatt, the
coachmaker, as a painter, but as many of this trade are to be got in
Calcutta, I see no hardship Mr Howatt giving him
up, as the man wishes to work under Mr Spalding who assures me with the
assistance of this man he shall be ready to commence the gold coinage in one
month from this date. On
21st July Herbert Harris was able to inform the Governor General
that he would start minting the new gold coins in August 1790 [8]: I am to request you will
acquaint the Governor General in Council that I shall be ready to commence
the coinage of gold after the Europe manner after the first of next month,
and desire you will inform me whether the suspension laid on the coinage of
gold bullion the 3rd September 1788 is to be taken off. In
response, the Board issued the following advertisement: Ordered the following
advertisement be published in the Gazette in the English and country
language: The
Governor General in Council has directed notice to be given that his Lordship
has been pleased to revoke the order that was passed on the 3rd
December 1788 for suspending the
coinage of gold mohurs at the mint, and that from and after the 1st
of next month, August, gold bullion will be received there for that purpose
and coined without charge to individuals. It
is further hereby noticed that from and after the 1st of next
month, new milled gold money will be issued of the former weight and standard,
and the gold now extant of the Calcutta coinage will be recoined on
application at the mint, into gold mohurs of the new coinage, also into small
money, that is halves and quarters, for the convenience of individuals,
without any expense to them, and weight will be delivered for weight. The
new gold coin will be received by the Collectors of the revenue and other
officers of Government in payment of the demands of the Company On
31st July, Calcutta informed London that they were about to start
minting the new gold coins [9]: On the 21st
July we were acquainted by the Mint Master that he should be ready to begin
the coinage of gold after the Europe manner on the first of the following
month, and we caused our advertisement to be published for the information of
individuals declaring the conditions on which their bullion would be coined,
and authorizing the new gold to be received by the Collectors of Revenue and
other officers of Government in payment of the demands of the Company. Lieut Isaac Humphrys and Lieutenant Golding, of the Engineer Corps
have afforded very ready and useful assistance in superintending the
construction of the machinery for the different mints, and inventing and
executing some parts of it, particularly the milling instrument. The Governor
General has been pleased to record his sentiments thereon, in our proceedings
of the 21st July and, at his Lordship’s recommendation, we have
acquiesced in granting such recompences which they
had actually incurred, as we deemed them justly entitled to. On
I request you will
inform his Lordship I have begun the coinage of gold mohurs after the Europe manner,
that some delay has been occasioned by circumstances which we could not forsee. The proof impression of the dyes on copper were
very neat and the round of the coin well preserved, but when we came to give
the impression to the gold, which is very fine and soft, the boldness of the
letters occasioned the coin to spread out of the circle on receiving the
stroke from the stamping machine, and it became necessary to alter the dyes
so as to make the relief on the coin less prominent. We
had no sooner got the dyes ready and were going to work than we found the
house had sunk from the very heavy rains and were obliged to take down the
laminating machine and lower it so as to make it work again. As none of the
walls of the house are cracked I conclude the sink of the foundations has
been pretty equal and I hope it has not endangered the building. The
gold coins produced at this time were probably those catalogued by Pridmore
in his Bengal Catalogue (Pr 61) and herein numbered
4.1.
The
first milled gold coins Having
decided that the new coinage would be difficult, if not impossible, to
counterfeit, it is interesting to note just how quickly that happened (August
1791) [11]: …A case has lately
occurred which has occasioned some embarrassment and may in future be
attended with very great inconvenience. By the proceedings referred to in the
margin, you will observe that an attempt has been made to imitate the gold
mohurs of the new coinage, and considering the defective means which must
have been employed on the occasion, with some success. The
Advocate General’s opinion has been desired, whether any statute is in force,
applicable to this country, by which coiners or the utterers of false coin,
may be brought to punishment. In
August 1792 the Mint Committee was able to report [12]: The size, shape and
impression of the gold mohurs appear perfect, and fully equal in every
respect to the newest English guinea, or any of the gold coins in The
machines and implements for striking and milling the gold coin, if not
exactly similar, appear to answer those purposes as well as the milling and
stamping machines used in
Thus the production of milled gold coins proved
relatively straight-forward, and from October 1792 the daily output of gold
coins from the
Production
of gold coins at the The Silver Coinage at At
the meeting held on Notice is hereby given
that the new milled silver coin will be issued from the Honourable Company’s
mint from and after the 10th instant in payment of the produce of
all silver bullion sent to be coined. The
shroffs, money-changers etc are positively forbidden to deface, cut or clip
the edges of the new coin or to put any private mark thereon. They are also
prohibited from exacting any batta on the old nineteen sun sicca under pain
in either case of incurring such punishment as the Governor General in
Council may think proper to inflict. London
was informed that silver coinage would be started, but using the “old mode of
coinage” in November 1790 [15]: … and the silver coinage
has also been begun upon. We were under the necessity, however, of allowing
the old mode of coinage to be continued for some time until there should be a
certainty of carrying on the business of the coinage by the new mode to its
full extent, so that no interruption or unnecessary delay might take place,
to the injury of the merchants and shroffs, & that a free importation of
bullion might not be prevented. The
notice announcing the new milled silver coinage was premature. By February of
1791 it had become clear that using the laminating machines that had been
built to roll out the silver was more troublesome than had been anticipated.
The mint master therefore decided that producing the blanks by hand would be
a more effective way of doing things for the time being [16]: I am to request you will
acquaint the Honble the Governor General in Council that I have tried the new
method proposed by Mr Spalding of preparing the blanks by striking them with
a hammer to the proper size for milling, and tho’
this method required a great many people yet it is preferable in many
respects to the laminating mill and approaches very near to the method
practised by the natives. The
Calcutta mint was able to produce 2000 rupees worth of gold coin and 120,000
rupees worth of silver coin in a week [17], but
probably not milled silver, and in May 1791 the mint master was able to
answer the following questions [18]: Question: Supposing the whole
mint establishment solely employed in coining silver. What number of rupees
could be coined daily? Answer: The rupees at
present are made in the old way, and are struck with the fly presses instead
of the hammer, which alone is a great improvement; and in this manner I can
coin twenty thousand rupees per day. Q: Supposing the whole
mint establishment solely employed in coining gold. What number of mohurs
could be coined daily? A: The gold being coined
after the European manner it would take some time to perfect the people in
filing and adjusting the planchets, and I think five thousand gold mohurs per
day would be as much as I could perform. In cutting out the planchets, or
milling the edges, there is no difficulty. Q: Supposing the whole
mint establishment employed in coining partly gold and partly silver, what
number of mohurs and rupees could be coined daily? A: I now coin about 18
or 19,000 rupees per day in silver, and 500 gold mohurs. The proportion of
silver to gold coined is as 4 to 1 In August 1791, Bengal updated London on the progress
that had been made so far [19]: Our advices by the
Princess Amelia informed you that the new silver, as well as the gold
coinage, had been actually commenced. Everything relating to this subject,
either as it respects the mint established at the Presidency or at the cities
of The
buildings in the old fort, formerly appropriated to the use of the mint,
having been pulled down, and the temporary accommodations afterwards provided
for this purpose, being found exceedingly inconvenient, we complied with an
application made to us by the Mint Master for the hire of a house and
go-downs, which he represented as being well calculated for conducting the
business of his office in all its branches, at a rent which we presume will
be thought sufficiently moderate, being Sa.Rs. 400
per mensum. By
our orders of the 1st December 1790, and the 14th
January 1791, individuals delivering bullion into the mint were allowed to
take away immediately from the treasury the amount of its assay value; but,
in consequence of a representation made to us by the Accountant General on
the 21st of April, from which it appeared that the available
balance at the treasury fell short of the demands upon it for the discharge
of bills which would become due before the first of May ensuing, we were
under the necessity of suspending the operation of the orders in question
until the amount of bullion, deposited for coinage, should be diminished… …It
being important to ascertain with as much precision as possible, the quantity
both of gold and silver coin which, in a given time, could be worked off at
the mint, certain queries were proposed to that effect to the Mint Master,
adverting to the period when the buildings lately engaged for the purpose,
should be in a state of perfect preparation. These, with the Mint Master’s
answers, will be found recorded in the proceedings of the dates annexed… The silver coins produced at this time must have been the
19 sun sicca dumps dated AH 1205. Hijri year 1205 ended in August 1791, but
these coins seem to have been produced for a lot longer, probably until 1793
in By May 1792, it had become obvious
that the early optimism about the speed of implementing a machine-made silver
coinage was ill-founded. The In the same month, August 1792, the
Mint Committee was able to report [21]: …With respect to the
silver coin, it appears to be very defective with regard to its size,
thickness and impression. The blank is made with the hammer; the impression
is struck with a fly-press but with a die of twice the circumference of the
coin so that only a part of the impression appears upon it. The letters also,
instead of being flat like those of the gold mohur, are prominent and
pointed, and consequently liable to greater injury from common wear, as well
as from filing. From being very thick and not milled it may be easily filed
and drilled, and is liable to be defaced and debased in other ways, so that
no person can receive it with safety without having it examined by a shroff. We
beg leave therefore to recommend that in future the rupees be coined and
milled in the same manner as the gold mohur and that the Hijeree
are to be omitted, as the insertion of it, by shewing the year in which the
rupees are struck, defeats the object of Government in continuing the 19th
sun or year of the King’s reign upon the coin. We
beg leave to submit specimens of rupees coined and milled in the manner
proposed, and should they meet with the approbation of your Lordship in
Council, we shall take the necessary steps for preparing the requisite number
of fly-presses and other implements with the least possible delay, continuing
in the meantime to coin the rupees in the former method, until a sufficient
number of machines and implements are completed to enable the Mint Master at
Calcutta and the Assay Masters of the the other
mints to coin the new rupees with equal expedition. The
Board agreed with the proposals, notably that the hijra date should be omitted,
and they approved the specimens submitted. Further information on the production
process, and particularly when the milled coinage of rupees began in the
Calcutta mint, was given by the mint master, James Miller, in October 1793 [22]: …But since the
commencement of the milled silver coinage from and after the 31st
August last [i.e.
August 1793], the powers of the mint
have been greatly abridged in regard to the quantity of the whole coin that
can be produced in the same time, even with a considerable augmentation of
dye-feeders, lever-men etc, because of the increased quantity of labour which
is required in the new silver coinage beyond what was necessary in the old. At
present every blank receives three blows, one from a concave dye, another
from a collar dye and a third from the letter dye, which compleats
the coin, and between each of those blows the same blank must be annealed to
soften the silver so as to prevent its cracking towards the edge, until which
caution was observed, many blanks were obliged to be wholly reformed. In
the old way of coining silver, the duraps formed
the blanks with a few careless blows of the hammer, for, as they were not to
be milled, it was of little consequence whether they were perfectly round or
not, and the diameter of the rupee was chiefly determined by the force of the
blow with which the impression was made, and the ductility or hardness of the
metal. But few blanks were spoiled in comparison with those of the present
coinage… From this information we can attempt to recreate the
process that was used in making the coins at that time. Blanks would have
been cut by hand and weighed and the weight adjusted. Then they were struck
with a concave die, probably in a collar, presumably to get them to the
correct diameter. Next they were struck with the “collar die” to “give a
smooth surface to the rim” (see p. 369). Finally they were struck with the
dies bearing the Persian inscription. Between each striking they had to be
annealed. This whole process was laborious and time-consuming. After this the
edge milling was added using a process that is not described but which, in
Calcutta, was carried out by boys from the orphanage [23]: The Mint Master at
Calcutta having applied to us for an additional number of boys to be employed
in milling the coin, we beg leave to request that your Lordship in Council
will be pleased to authorize us to apply to the managers of the orphan
society for four boys for the above purpose. As
well as agreeing that the Hijri date should be omitted and the silver coins
struck in the same way as the gold, Bengal reported to London in December
1792 [24]: Since the beginning of
October the Mint and Assay Masters have delivered into the Board a daily
return of work done at their respective offices, a measure of obvious
utility… …Towards
the end of October, the operations of the mint had become so much more
expeditious that we were able to revoke the permission granted on the 31st
August, to individuals delivering bullion at the mint, to exchange mint
certificates for 8 per cent promissory notes, instead of waiting to receive
in coin the produce of their bullion. This indulgence ceased from the 17th
November… As
stated above, the mint master had been asked to provide a daily report on the
activities of the mint, and this report included the number of coins struck,
by value. It is not possible to tell how many of each individual denomination
were struck to start with, simply a rupee value for silver. It seems likely
that only whole rupees were produced initially because, at a later date, the
number of half and quarter rupees is stated (see graphs below). Calcutta continued to produce the
blanks by hand, although a trial of laminating and cutting machines was
performed at the end of 1794 [25]: From the late enquiries
however, in which I have been engaged in regard to the flaws too often to be
found in blanks which had been fashioned by the hammer, I became sensible of
the necessity of endeavouring to bring into actual and constant practice the
mode of forming them by means of the laminating and cutting machines. Those
blanks which are formed by the hammer require and receive two separate blows
in the presses between what is called the collar and concave dies,
respectively, before they receive the last blow between the dies which give
the impression of the coin. Each of these blows renders the metal more rigid
and brittle, which causes the necessity of annealing all the blanks by making
them hot to redness, both between the first and second blows, and between the
second and third, which occasions not a little loss of time. Notwithstanding
the above method of softening the metal, it sometimes happens that blanks
which were formed even free from flaws when delivered from the hammer have
exhibited cracks more or less considerable, after each blow, and after having
sustained the two first, have under the last been rendered unfit to be issued
from the mint as coin. I
therefore caused a trial to be made of the laminating and cutting machines,
the blanks formed by which require no other blow in the presses than that
which gives the impression. This trial was made upon about 1000 Sa Rs, the
coin produced from which appeared to be most perfect in every respect, but of
greater diameter in a small degree than that which had been before approved
of. The cutting machines have been accordingly reduced, and I am now giving
out considerable quantities of the Dutch silver to be formed into whole
rupees in the above manner, to enable the Honble Board to judge of which, I
have herewith the honor to enclose two rupees of the coinage by the hammer,
one of the sort which I had found to be to large by
the cutters and one of those produced since the cutters were contracted. This
mode of coinage may, I am sensible, occasion additional expense in some
instances, whilst in others it will effect a considerable reduction, because
it will render about two-thirds of the pressmen and dye feeders unnecessary.
In the meantime I continue to occupy most of the duraps
in the old way, and only employ a few of the sardars in adjusting the blanks,
which are formed after the laminating method. The sardars however, I am
sensible, would not be friendly to the establishment of this mode of forming
the blanks unless they could obtain such wages for adjusting them as would
compensate for the loss of the docauns, and the
advantages they derive between the wages they pay to the people they employ,
and the amount allowed for each set. But if this should be the case, other
people for adjusting the blanks must be sort for and entertained. The
Honble Board, I cannot therefore doubt, will be satisfied that a change of
this nature must be effected by degrees and in such manner as not to occasion
any stop or impediment to the coinage…
An important point to note from the above extract is that
the trial produced approximately 1000 pieces, which were of slightly greater
diameter than the normally produced rupees. This observation is important for
attributing the different coins to their time of production (see below). In fact, The graphs on this and the following
page show that, like the gold coinage, the mint began by producing whole
rupees and, once this had been perfected, the mint concentrated on producing
the fractions. It is also interesting to note the reduction in coinage, mentioned
by the Mint Committee, following the introduction of the milling process in
1793.
The
output of silver coins from the Regulation
for the New Coinage In
October 1792, following the review by the Mint Committee, the Governor
General published an advertisement formally announcing the new silver
coinage, and that, as from April 1794, the only coins acceptable as currency
would be the 19 sun siccas [26]: The following
regulations for the conduct of the several mints having been adopted by the
Governor General in Council are now made public, together with the subjoined
table of rates of batta for general information First: that after the 30th
Chyte 1200, Second: that public notice be given
that Government, with a view to enable individuals to get their old coin or
bullion converted into sicca rupees without delay, have established mints at
Patna, Moorshedabad and Dacca, in addition to the
mint at Calcutta. Third: that for all bullion or old
coin of sicca standard delivered into the mint, an equal weight of sicca
rupees be returned to the proprietor without any charge whatsoever. Fourth: that all bullion or old coin
under sicca standard delivered into the mints be refined to the sicca
standard and that a number of sicca rupees equal to the weight of the bullion
so refined be returned, after deducting twelve annas per cent for the charge
of refining. Fifth: that the rupees coined at
Dacca, Patna and Moorshedabad be made precisely of
the same shape, weight and standard, and that they bear the same impression
as the 19 sun sicca rupee coined at Calcutta, in order that the rupees struck
at the several mints may not be distinguishable from each other, and that
they may be received and paid indiscriminately in all public and private
transactions. Sixth: that to guard as far as
possible against the counterfeiting, clipping, drilling, filing or defacing
the coin, the dies with which the rupees are to be struck be made in future
of the same size as the coin, so that the whole of the inscription may appear
upon the surface of it, and that the edge of the coin be milled. Seventh: that persons detected in
counterfeiting, clipping, filing, drilling or defacing the coin be committed
to the criminal courts and punished as the law directs. Eighth: that all the officers, gomestahs and others employed in the collection of the
revenues, the provision of the investment, and manufacture of salt, and all
shroffs, podars, zemindars,
Talookdars, farmers and all persons whatsoever, be
prohibited affixing any mark whatsoever to the coin, and that all rupees so
marked be declared not to be legal tender of payment in any public or private
transaction, and that the officers of Government be directed to reject any
rupees of this description that may be tendered at the public treasuries. Ninth: that as there may not be a
sufficient number of sicca rupees in circulation in some districts
(notwithstanding the great number of this species of rupee that has been
lately coined in the mints at Dacca and Calcutta) to enable the landholders
to pay their revenues to Government in sicca rupees as stipulated in their
engagements for the decennial settlement, that the various species of rupees
current in the several districts be received at the public treasuries from the
landholders and farmers in payment of their revenue until the 30th
Chyte 1200 Bengal style, or 10th April 1794, at fixed rates of
batta to be calculated according to the difference of intrinsic value which
the various species of coins in circulation bear to the sicca rupee as
ascertained by assay in the Calcutta mint. Tenth: that all rupees excepting
siccas, which may be received at the public treasuries agreeably to the ninth
article be not on any account issued therefrom, but that they be sent to the
mints and coined into siccas of the 19 sun. Eleventh: that after the 30th
Chyte Bengal style, corresponding with the 10th April 1794, no
person be permitted to recover in the Dewanny or
Maul Adawlute established in the provinces of
Bengal, Behar and Orissa, any sum of money under a bond, or other writing, or
any agreement written or verbal, entered into after the above mentioned date,
by which any species of rupee excepting the sicca rupee of the 19 sun is
stipulated to be paid. Twelfth: that persons who shall have
entered into bonds or writings or other agreements written or verbal, prior
to 30th Chyte 1200 Bengal style, corresponding with 10th
April 1794, whereby a sum of money is to be paid in any other species of
rupee excepting the 19 sun sicca, and who shall not have discharged the same
before that date, be at liberty to liquidate such engagement either in the
rupee specified therein or in the 19 sun sicca rupee at the batta which may
be specified in the table mentioned in the 9th article. Thirteenth: that all engagements
hereafter entered into on the part of Government for the provision of the
investment or manufacture of salt or opium, be made in the sicca rupee, and
that all landholders and farmers of land be expressly prohibited from
concluding engagements with their under renters, ryots or dependent talookdars, after 30th Chyte 1200 Bengal
style, corresponding with the 10th April 1794, excepting for sicca
rupees, under the penalty of not being permitted to recover any arrears that
may become due to them under such engagements as prescribed in the 11th
article. The low production of silver coins caused the date for
the introduction of this regulation to be moved to 1795 [27]: The Governor General in
Council, taking into consideration the above letters, observes that similar
representations have been received from other parts of the country of a want
of a sufficient number of the nineteen sun sicca rupees, to make them the
only legal tender of payment, and as the attempting to enforce this part of
the regulations until a sufficient quantity of that species of coin has been
introduced into the circulation, would be the source of much inconvenience
and oppression to individuals, he resolves to postpone to the 10th
April next the operation of that part of the thirty fifth regulation passed
in 1793, by which the receipt of any rupees
excepting siccas of the nineteenth sun is prohibited from the 10th
April last, and that in the meantime rupees of sorts be received in payment
of the public revenue under the rules which were in force prior to the last
mentioned date. Attribution
of the Type 1 Rupees to a Date The
silver coins produced during the 1790s are recorded by Pridmore, and consist
of three types shown in the pictures below. One point that needs to be considered
in assigning the type 1 rupee to its date of issue, is the statement from the
records, cited above, that a trial of laminating and cutting machinery was
undertaken in the
Type
1: Broad rim, Hijri date 1202 (actual size)
Type
2: Narrow rim, Hijri date 1202 (actual size)
Type
3: Narrow rim, no Hijri date (actual size) From
these results, it seems reasonable to conclude that the type 1 rupee can be
attributed to this event in 1792, and not to the 1790 experiments. The type 2
coins were probably produced from the middle of 1793 until the middle of
1794, when the type 3 coins began to be produced. This last type continued in
production until 1818. Although
the preparation of a new copper coinage had been discussed on and off for a
number of years, the mint was preoccupied with producing sufficient gold and
silver coins to standardise the coinage of the Presidency. It was not until
1794 that the assay master at the In 1795, the Governor General, The present very
defective state of the copper coinage has long been a subject of general
complaint, but particularly amongst the lower orders of the people, on whom
it occasionally operates as a heavy grievance... …This
constant fluctuation in the value of the copper coin, is a source of great
profit to the shroffs who combine to raise and fall the value of it in the
different parts of the country, buying it up when they have depreciated it,
and selling it at an enhanced value when they have accumulated so large a
quantity as to render the remainder in circulation at the places to which
their influence may extend, insufficient for the dealings of the inhabitants.
Exclusive of this source of advantage, they likewise derive a large profit
from trafficing with the numerous sorts of old and
counterfeit pice which have local currency in the different parts of the
country in the same manner as by the exchange of the old copper. Shore
then went on to explain how the copper coinage had been operated by previous
administrations: Previous to stating any
propositions for a new copper coinage, it may be necessary to notice the
principles upon which the copper currency was regulated under the native
administration and the rules that have been prescribed regarding it by the
British Government. Under
the Mogul administration the silver coin was the only measure of value, and
legal tender of payment. Gold mohurs and pice were struck at the mint for the
convenience of individuals who carried gold or copper to be converted into
those coins. But the Government never fixed the number of pice which should
be considered as equivalent to a rupee, any more than the number of rupees
that should pass in exchange for a gold mohur. Like other commodities, the
gold and copper coins were left to find their value in the market, compared
with the common standard of valuation, the rupee. As
a necessary consequence of the above principles, the quantity of copper
contained in the number of pice exchangeable for a rupee, was in general
nearly proportionate to the price of copper in the market, or in other words,
the nominal and current value of the coin was nearly the same as the
intrinsic value. From
the year 1772, when the mints at Next
he discussed the requirements for the new copper coinage: …The desideratum in the
copper coinage of this country, is that a given number of the coin should
pass universally for the fractional part of a rupee, or perhaps half a rupee
or eight annas, and no more, in all purchases or payments whatever. To effect
this desirable object, the following appear to be the principles on which the
copper coinage should be regulated. The
intrinsic value of the coin should be nearly equal to its nominal worth estimating
it according to a moderate average price, so as to preclude individuals from
deriving any advantage from counterfeiting the coin. This is the great evil
to be avoided, but which would be the necessary consequence of estimating the
copper at too high a value and prevent the coin being generally received at
its fixed value. On the other hand, supposing the copper be rather under valued, it can only produce the effects of
occasioning some of it to be milled down when particular circumstances may
cause an unusual rise in the price of copper. This however can rarely happen
to any great extent; at all events it is an evil of comparatively little
importance, being attended in its consequences only with the trouble of
throwing a further quantity of the coin into circulation, the additional
quantity of copper required for which can always be imported with advantage
from Europe. The
type and cost of copper was considered: The sheet copper is the
proper sort of copper for coining into pice. From the annexed statement it
appears that the average price of this copper at the Company’s sales for the
last ten years, is current rupees 46:1:1˝ per factory maund of sicca weight
72:11:7 to the seer. The price however has arisen at different times within
the above period considerably higher and at the sales in January 1794 it was
near forty eight current rupees. As
the basis therefore for calculating the intrinsic value of the coin, and
fixing the proportion between that and its nominal value, it might not be
advisable to assume a higher value than forty five current rupees. He
then calculated a suitable weight for a pice and half anna, concluding that
this latter denomination would be too heavy for practical purposes and that
the coinage should therefore consist of pice and half pice: The factory maund
contains 2880 sicca weight; supposing a pice to be struck weighing sixteen annas,
it will consequently give 2880 pice to the factory maund. If these pice be
valued at a quarter of an anna each, or sixty four for the sicca rupee, they
will have a value in circulation of exactly forty five sicca rupees the
maund, which will be sixteen per cent more than the intrinsic value of the
copper, estimating it at the proposed price of forty five current rupees each
factory maund. This
difference will be sufficient to cover the expense of the coinage, without a
probability of any inducement being afforded to individuals either now or
hereafter, to counterfeit the coin. Pice
therefore of the weight and issued at the value above specified, would be
sixty per cent more in weight & consequently in value than the pice now
issued at the same value. A
half anna pice of thirty two annas weight would be too heavy a coin for
circulation, and any smaller subdivision of a rupee than a one hundred and
twenty eighth part appears unnecessary, as in transactions in which a smaller
sign of value are required, the cowries are invariably used throughout the
country. It appears expedient therefore that there should be only two
descriptions of copper coin, a whole and a half pice, the former to pass at
the value of a quarter of an anna, & the latter at half a quarter of an
anna. There
can be no objection to the receipt of these coins upon the ground of their
being over valued in the proportion above stated, for altho’ it is necessary
that the intrinsic and nominal value of gold and silver coin should be the
same, the observance of this rule is not equally necessary with copper coin,
especially when declared as hereafter proposed, to be current for the
fraction of half a rupee only. There can be little doubt therefore that under
proper regulations, pice and half pice of the weight, and issued at the value
above proposed, would be received throughout the country, at that value, and
consequently remove the cause of the heavy grievance above complained of by
the furnishing a convenient circulating medium for the petty transactions of
the lower orders of the people, which will exempt them from the impositions
they now suffer from the money changers. The
Governor General then went on to lay out proposed regulations for the copper coinage.
Firstly he set out what the coin should look like: These regulations are in
abstract as follows: That people in all parts
of the country may be apprized of the value at
which the coin is issued by Government, & to be received and paid by the
public and by individuals, the value should be inscribed on one surface of it
in the Persian, Bengal and Nageree, the three
characters used in business in the different parts of the provinces. Secondly
he proposed that copper coins should only be accepted in payments of up to
half a rupee (eight annas) in value: Instead of obliging
individuals to receive copper to the amount of one per cent as at the last
coinage [i.e.
Prinsep’s copper coins, see chapter 3],
the coin should be declared a legal tender of payment for the fractional
parts of half a rupee, or eight annas, and no more, & all the offices of
Government should be prohibited receiving or issuing any larger amount in
copper, in receipts and disbursements made on the public account. Thirdly,
coinage would be confined to the As the coin is to be
made on account of Government, it should be struck at the On
the preceding regulation it may be observed that no estimate can be formed of
the probable extent of the demand for the new pice, as there are no data for
calculating the quantity of old pice of various sorts now current, and
supposing it could be ascertained, it would be no criterion for judging of
the quantity of new pice that may be required for the circulation of the
country, should they become generally current. He
then discussed the method by which the coins would be put into circulation: To facilitate the
introduction of the new pice, and to prevent any inconvenience arising from
withdrawing the old pice from the circulation, a quantity of the former
should be prepared previous to the publication of the intentions of
Government to establish the new coinage, & sent to the General Treasury,
the collectors of the revenue, the commercial residents, the salt agents and
the collectors of the Government and Calcutta customs, with directions to
dispose of them at the rate of 64 whole pice or 128 half pice for the sicca
rupee, to any persons who may be desirous to purchase them at that rate. These
officers however should be prohibited from receiving in any payment which may
be made to them on the account of Government, or issuing in any public
disbursement, a greater sum in pice than the fractional parts of eight annas
in each receipt on payment. When
any of the officers above mentioned shall have occasion for a supply of pice
for the circulation, they should apply for them to the Governor General in
Council through the regular official channel, submitting at the same time the
grounds of the application. They should at the same time be enjoined to be
particularly careful not to dispose of them to the shroffs in large
quantities so as to enable them to derive an advantage from the sale of them,
but to endeavour to distribute them as much as possible throughout their
respective district to persons who may have occasion for pice for their
private disbursements, and not to make a profit by disposing of them. Next
he discussed receiving old pice into the treasuries and, interestingly,
refers to “ As Government cannot in
justice refuse to receive the After
the period specified in the preceding article, neither the old Calcutta pice
mentioned in the 5th article, nor any other pice (excepting the
new pice) should be received at any of the public treasuries or offices, or
issued therefrom on any account whatever, nor should they be legal tender of
payment for any sum in any public or private transactions. All
public officers should be prohibited issuing the old The
old pice which may accumulate in the public offices in consequence of the
preceding orders should be sent to the It
may be likewise necessary, to prevent the counterfeiting or defacing the
coin, that persons convicted of such will be committed to take their trial
before the criminal court and punished as the law may direct. By
the adoption of the above rules, the old pice will be withdrawn from
circulation without inconvenience to the public and the new pice be gradually
introduced, and in such quantity only as the circulation may require. He
then went on to consider the costs involved: From the annexed
statement furnished by the sub-treasurer, it will appear that the value of
the This
sum might be further reduced by instructing persons in the different parts of
the country to purchase the Calcutta or Prinsep’s pice on account of
Government, provided they can procure them at a low value, nor could the
measure be considered as an injustice to the public, as all persons who may
be in possession of any of these pice are at liberty by the rules above
proposed to pay them into the public treasuries at the full value at which
they were issued by Government. The Board however will hereafter take into
consideration the propriety of adopting this measure should circumstances
appear to require it... In accordance with this resolution, James Miller, the
mint master, prepared specimens of whole and half pice [29]: I have the pleasure to
send you herewith four specimens of each of the copper coins, as directed in
your letter of the 2nd ultimo, for the inspection of the Honble
Board. In
November 1795, the Governor General approved the coins and instructed the
mint master to begin production: I am directed to
acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 6th instant and to
acquaint you that the Governor General in Council approves of the samples of
the whole and half pice which you have submitted and desires that you will
make the necessary preparations for the new copper coinage with all
practicable dispatch. You
are to coin an equal value of the whole and half pice until it shall be
ascertained which of the two coins are likely to be in the greatest demand
for circulation, when the future proportions of each may be regulated
accordingly. The
Board of Trade have been directed to allow you to examine the sheet copper in
the Company’s warehouse and to retain from the quantity now in store, and the
expected imports of the current season, three thousand factory maunds of the
sort which you may select as most proper for coining into pice. These first specimens probably had the inscriptions ek pau anna (a quarter of an anna) and
nīm pau anna (half a
quarter of an anna) because the Governor General agreed that this should be
changed [30]: The Governor General in
Council understanding that the relative value of the whole and half pice with
respect to the sicca rupee will be better understood by the natives in
General and especially the lower orders of them, by substituting ek pai sicca
(one pice sicca) and adh pai sicca (half a pice
sicca) for ek paow anna (a quarter of an anna) and
neem paow anna (half a quarter of an anna), the
inscription ordered on the 2nd ultimo, resolves that instructions
be issued to the Mint Master for that purpose. The method of producing copper coins was found to be more
difficult than first envisaged [31]: In the idea that the
copper pice of which I transmitted samples to Mr sub secretary Barlow on the
6th instant will probably be approved by the Honble Board, I directed
some questions to the Foreman respecting the apparatus that would be
necessary for melting down about 215 maunds of old pice which have been
received from the general treasury and for recoining the same into new pice;
in answer to which I have received his observations thereon, which are as
follows: The
natives cannot melt copper sufficiently malleable to be made into pice. It
has been tried repeatedly but found not to answer either for the hammer or
laminating machines. The
best and least expensive mode of making the new pice is from sheet copper, by
the laminating machine. The braziers will (I believe) give something more for
the cuttings than for sheet copper as the former saves them the trouble of
cutting the copper to put into their pots when they make brass. Mr Prinsep
found this to be the case when he made pice. The
Durapps can cut down the old pice so as to answer
for the new, but that is a tedious mode. In
the same letter, the mint master found that he could get useful information
from some of the mint workers who had formerly been employed by Prinsep: I have since enquired of
some of the natives in the mint, who I learn had formerly been employed by Mr
Prinsep, and each of them corroborates the report of the foreman, that old
pice cannot be melted down sufficiently malleable for the purpose of forming
new ones, in which case I conceive it would be necessary to make use of sheet
copper from the import warehouse. It
seems however necessary that whatever may become of the copper of the old
pice they cannot be disposed of in their present form without again forcing
themselves into some degree of circulation, and that for this reason the old
pice should either be melted down or in some other manner so effaced that
they cannot pass as coin either of standard or of inferior valuation. In
regard to the cutting down of the old pice by the duraps,
I am induced to believe that if at all practicable, the expense and delay
would both be beyond all reasonable proportion, for exclusive of their being
able to form but a few in that way, if all of them were so employed, they
could only work upon them during the short time that may happen when neither gold nor silver happens to be in the mint. Besides which
considerations it is only the old whole and half pice that could be so cut
down, all the smaller old pice being of less weight than the new ones. If
therefore the Honble Board should approve, I would recommend a supply of one
or two hundred maunds of sheet copper from the Import Warehouse, that in this
case I may lose no time in providing the additional servants and laborours necessary for forming the new pice by the
laminating machine, and in the meantime the old pice can remain locked up in
the mint until the best mode of disposing of them may be determined on. The
mint master was ordered to make the new copper coins from sheet copper, and
to dispose of the Prinsep’s and Ordered that the Mint
Master be directed to coin the new pice and half pice from the copper which
may be obtained from the import warehouse and to melt down the Prinsep’s or
Calcutta pice which were sent to him from the general treasury, or cut or
deface them so that they cannot be introduced again into circulation as coin,
and to dispose of the metal or the cut or defaced pice to the best advantage. and
he sent examples of the sheet copper that he considered appropriate for
coinage, asking that it might be sent out from England in sheets one foot
square [32].
A little later he revised this and sent another sample of the copper required
[33]. However, even once the mint master got
the sheet copper from the Import Warehouse Keeper, he found that the cost of
producing the coins was much greater then he had anticipated. The copper was
valued at Rs 5,460-3-2 and produced Rs 5,394-8-9 worth of coins, amounting to
a loss of Rs 65-10-5. In a second experiment there was an even greater loss
and the only solution that he could identify was to reduce the weight of the
coins [34]: …If the new whole pice
were reduced to the weight of 12 annas each, and the half pice to six annas,
they would still weigh 20 per cent more than Mr Prinsep’s pice, for
thirty-two of Mr Prinsep’s whole pice were valued by Government at a rupee,
or half an anna each, and when struck were intended to weigh but 1 rupee 4
annas, which at the most gives 40 sicca weight per rupee. Whereas if the new
whole pice, valued only at one quarter of an anna each, were reduced to the
weight of 12 annas, and the half pice in proportion, the publick
would receive 48 sicca weight per rupee in 64 whole pice, or 128 half pice,
of better copper and more complete manufacture. In April 1796, the Governor General agreed that an
experimental coinage should be undertaken to see what the lower weight coins
would look like [35]: Ordered the Mint Master be
informed that the Governor General in Council desires he will coin as a
specimen a small quantity of the whole pice at the reduced weight of 12
annas, instead of 16, and the pice at 6 annas instead of 8, and that he will
submit a particular account of the expense… And
a few days later the specimens were duly submitted [36]: …I herewith beg leave to
submit musters of whole and half pice, weighing 12 As and 6 As each,
respectively… The
lower weight coins were approved, but at the same time the Calcutta Government
resolved to ask Unfortunately the mint did not have
the technical ability to re-coin previously minted pice, nor could they
re-coin the older Prinsep’s pice as discussed above, but reiterated yet again
[38]: …I however beg leave to
represent that I have found it no less impracticable to recoin the new pice
lately formed than it was to recoin the old pice of Mr Prinsep. I
likewise understand that the labour and consequent expense of defacing them
so as to admit of them being sold as copper in the bazar, without danger of
being used as coin, would amount to a very considerable proportion of their
value, and that melting would be equally ineligible by reducing the value of
the metal for common purposes, exclusive of the expense of servants, firewood
etc and injury to the furnaces. From
all that I have been able to learn on the subject, the best method that
occurs, if it shall be found practicable, would be to deliver over both the
old pice of Mr Prinsep, and those lately formed weighing 16 and 8 annas, to
the Commissary of stores to be applied to the making of brass, for ordnance.
In which case probably the small pieces into which the copper is divided
might render it no less eligible for the purposes suggested than if it were
in the sheet. The
smaller half pice proved problematic. The impression did not always show up
clearly and the mint master investigated various reasons, finally concluding
that it was the thinness of the metal used, that caused the problem [39]: Having observed about
the beginning of the present month, that the impression of the half pice was
in several instances, so faint as not to be distinctly traced on the face of
the coin, I minutely enquired into the cause, in the idea that it might have
proceeded from striking off too many pieces with the same dies, from
carelessness in the dye feeders and lever men, or from both these causes. I
found however that the foreman chiefly ascribed the imperfection to the
thinness of the copper from the reduced weight from eight annas to six annas,
and in consequence I had assented to his reducing the cutters so as to render
the half pice blanks somewhat thicker. A few maunds of this sort were
actually struck off, but as some parts of the letters of the dye did not come
within the edge of the coin, I was admonished that it would be considered a
palpable defect, and I therefore put an instant stop to this coin, nor has a
single piece of it been yet sent to the Treasury, nor will any be sent
thither unless from the difficulty attending the formation of this small
pice, they should be admitted of by the Honble Board. I
desired to know from the foreman whether new dyes could be made for the half
pice, of such diameter as would admit of a deeper and more distinct
impression, and I now beg leave to enclose copy of his answer with the
inscription he suggests, and from which the whole of the Nagry
characters are left out. I
should have thought it altogether unreasonable to have expected the same
precision as to the formation and weight of copper pice that would be
indispensable in either gold or silver, but I considered that all pice where
the difference of weight should exceed one anna in twelve (or above 8 per
cent), and whose circular form was rendered irregular by coiners, ought not
to be considered as falling within the difference that might be admitted
between the precision requisite to the gold and silver coin, when compared
with the copper, and that such defects indicated carelessness in the workmen. But
though the pice which have been coined contain more samples of this sort than
I could wish, I do not mean to trouble the Honble Board with any such, unless
they should be called for, as I have no other wish or object than to render
the pice as nearly as practicable, equal to the musters which were delivered
in to the Honble Board with my address of the 13th April last, not
doubting that every indulgence will be granted to such imperfections as are
unavoidable. The
points of present consideration however, seem to be confined solely to the
half pice of six annas 1st,
whether the Honble Board shall think proper to continue them of their
original size, agreeably to the enclosed sample of the general run of that
coinage, marked No 1, notwithstanding the faintness of the impression. 2nd,
whether six anna pice of reduced size, but struck with the same dies as per
the enclosed sample, No 2, would be admissable or
not, and 3rd,
whether such alteration in the inscription as sent in by the foreman can now
be adopted with advantage and propriety The
Governor General ordered the mint master to reduce the diameter of the half
pice and, if this did not work, to prepare new dies; and, if the whole
inscription would not fit, then to remove the Persian rendition of the value,
leaving only the Nagri. Once this had been
addressed, the mint master was instructed to strike the copper coins in the
proportion of 350,000 whole pice to 150,000 half pice [40].
Finally, in July 1796, he was told to concentrate on the production of whole
pice, and not to produce half pice, which he had not done up to that point,
except as trial runs [41]. By August 1796, the attempts to
produce pice of 16 annas weight had resulted in a total production of 363,000
pieces of whole pice and 642,992 half pice. These had all been sent to the
treasury, but could not be issued because the lighter weight pice had by then
been produced and issued. These amounted to 1,226,000 whole pice and 605,000
half pice (despite the fact that he had been told not to produce half pice) [42]. By October, all of the copper
available had been converted into coins [43] and
it only remained to find a way of disposing of the sizel (copper scrap) left
from the coinage, and all of the heavy-weight pice that had been struck
initially. All of this was eventually sold as scrap [44]. Further coinages of copper took place
in December 1800 [45], May
1801 [46] and
October 1801 [47]. APPENDIX. Apparatus
built for the A
large horizontal cog wheel turning two vertical one[s] for working the
flatting mill A
fly press for striking the gold mohurs A
fly press nearly finished for striking rupees Fitting
up the fly press for the small gold coin A
cutting machine with table complete for the gold mohurs A
cutting machine ditto for half mohurs A
cutting machine for the small gold coin nearly finished A
cutting machine for the rupees with table complete Fitting
up an A
complete set of iron ingots moulds for the gold mohurs A
complete set of ditto for the half ditto Three
complete sets of ditto for the small coin 12
ingot moulds being part of what is required for the rupees 2
large tables for adjusting the planchets with 12 concavities for holding them
and 12 brass standard for suspending the scales with pullies and balances Altering
a large two centre lathe to be used occasionally as a collar [Mandrill
one for cutter etc] Turning
of cutters for cutting the planchets Making
of dyes in part of what is wanted Making
a drilling machine for the ingot moulds Making
lathe chucks for holding dyes and cutters Altering
a common iron flattening mill frame to be worked with [cogs] for coining
nearly finished Tools finished and in hand for the
other mints Sent to The
whole ironwork of a flatting mill complete A
large lathe with an assortment of tools etc 2
cutting machines made complete for cutting planchets Chucks
for holding the cutter In hand Three
cutting machines Two
frames for leveling the planchets |
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4.1
4.10
4.11
4.18References
