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The Inadequacy of the Calcutta Mint The
mint master, Saunders, had begun discussing necessary improvements to the
Calcutta mint in early 1818 [1]: …The Vice President in Council
entirely approves the attention paid by the Mint Master to the improvement of
the machinery of the mint, and if it shall appear from the result of the
further enquiries which that officer proposes to institute, that the steam
engine may with advantage be there employed, Government will expect to
receive a further communication from your Committee on the subject. but
at that time he did not have access to a written account of the processes
used in the European mints. However, a description must have arrived by 1819,
because this was when Saunders and the assay master, Wilson, were asked to
prepare a report on the …[The mint] can only be
improved by the introduction of that improved machinery, which has of late
years been invented, and from which every branch of British manufacture has
profited in so great a degree. To persist then in a system of acknowledged
error when the means of improvement are attainable, would be inconsistent
with every principle of sound policy and would betray a culpable indifference
to the real interests of Government, in a very important part of the service. We
think we cannot better give effect to the order contained in Mr Secretary
Mackenzie’s letter requiring a detail of the particular sort of machinery
proposed to be introduced here, than by submitting a printed account of that
now in use at the London mint together with the descriptive drawings of it,
as well as of the newly invented furnaces, and apparatus used for fusing and
pouring the metals there. It is fortunate that such an account should have
reached us at this time, as it clearly shews that most of the inconveniences
incidental to our rude and imperfect system of proceeding, may be remedied.
We propose to call your attention to the several departments described,
commencing with The Melting Furnaces Page 22 of the printed
account We were so forcibly
struck with the superiority and simplicity of these furnaces, over those in
use here, that we caused one to be constructed of common fire brick, with a
view of ascertaining whether the fuel most readily procured here would answer
for fusing a large body of metal. Complete success attended the experiment as
far as regarded that object. We failed however in our attempt to imitate the
machinery for pouring the metal and guiding the ingot moulds etc etc, so that we could not form a correct idea of the
lowest form of wastage at which the melting might be conducted. As a large
body of metal can however be fused with less wastage than the same quantity
divided into ten or twelve pots, such as we have now in use here, we have
reason to believe that a saving equal to one third of what now arises from
wastage on that process, might be effected, if we were in possession of the
requisite machinery and crucibles. The
easy supervision of these furnaces is also an important thing, but a
paramount advantage would be that the Assay Master might then take samples
for separate assays from each pot melted, and so effectually check the
fraudulent attempt to alloy any one pot. We
are strongly disposed to recommend that the furnaces of the new mint should
be constructed after this improved plan, and that the requisite sets of
machinery for working them should be procured from Laminating Machinery Described page 26 of the
printed account Amongst the numerous uses
to which the power of the steam engine has been directed, there is none
perhaps of more importance than its application to the coinage in all its
branches, which requires that motion shall be steady, and that force should
be uniformly and properly proportioned. We recommend therefore that complete
laminating machinery, such as is described to be in use at the Royal Mint,
with a steam engine of sufficient force to work it, be procured from England,
by which we should get rid of the serious expence
attending our present very precarious mode of working the rollers by hired
coolies. We also recommend that Mr Barton’s newly invented drawing machine
should be procured. The equality in thickness which this is described as
giving to the slips, or planchets, is quite unattainable by common rollers,
even when working by a steam engine. This machine would render the blanks
when cut so near to their standard weight as to supercede
the employment of probably two thirds of our present establishment of
adjusters, and it would also lessen the wastage from this unmechanical
operation. Cutting and Milling Machines Described in page 32 and
33 of the printed account The cutting out and
milling machines form connected parts of the general improvements adopted at
the Royal Mint, and therefore it would be desirable to introduce them also, otherwise we experience less inconvenience in
these than in any other departments of our mint. Stamping Machines Described in page 34 of
the printed account We conceive that at any
rate it would be highly advisable to have the coining presses worked by a
separate steam engine, as the present mode of raising the impression by the
force of a man’s arm, leaves it quite uncertain whether it be properly raised
or not, and consequently whether the coin be fit and creditable to circulate.
When this is not the case, the wastage and expense, as before noticed from
the intermediate processes of melting, laminating, adjusting and milling,
will have been uselessly incurred, and disappointment ensue in the amount of
coin remittable to the General Treasury. We think
however that this process might be conducted on a more simple principle than
that described in the printed account. Having discussed the various machines that they considered
necessary for the new mint, Saunders and Wilson drew attention to the fact
that, prior to 1818, the The beauty of our Indian
coins has been often and justly extolled, but it should be recollected that
they were formerly composed of purer and softer metal, which could with comparitive ease, receive any impression from the dies.
It is from experience that we can now speak to the defects of the present
system when applied to the new coinage, and it is only from what we conceive
and read of the new system of coinage, that we recommend its general
introduction at the mint, the expediency of which our observations are
intended to illustrate. They went on to discuss the means by which a new mint
might be obtained: As immediately connected
with this subject and pursuant to Mr secretary McKenzie’s directions, we
proceed to offer our opinion as to the manner in which it may be most
desirable that the whole, or any part of the new machinery should be
procured. There
appear to us but two modes of effecting this: Either
by a special indent being transmitted to the Honble Court of Directors for
machinery constructed after that used in the Royal Mint, with such
alterations as experience there may have suggested, or by some person well
acquainted with the defects arising from our rude and imperfect system of
coinage, being deputed to superintend its preparation, and to whom some
discretionary latitude might be given in his selection of the most simple and
best adapted sort of machinery for this country. Much superfluous expence might thus be saved, and greater certainty
attained of the speedy and full accomplishment of the object proposed. The
first mode would probably lead to considerable delay, or disappointment, or
both, in the end, by a further reference to Government being deemed
necessary, or by the imperfect execution of a commission, with the precise
nature of which the Honble Court might not be well acquainted. Our
observations regarding the introduction of new machinery have been
principally confined to the facility and superior excellence it would give to
the fabrication of the coins. Hence the possibility of counterfeiting them
would be lessened, and no pains or penalties hitherto devised have been found
powerful enough to overcome this temptation, as daily experience will have
shown. The most skilfull workmanship can alone
prevent this evil by taking away the temptation, and the very power of offending. Next they discussed the cost of a new mint or, more
particularly, the savings that might be made after a new mint had been
installed: We regret we have no
accurate data on which to estimate the first possible expence
of the machinery, but we can with more certainty enumerate sundry permanent
savings, exclusive of all other advantages, which it would occasion. We
estimate them as follows, on a coinage at the rate only of one lac pieces for
all the working days at the mint in one year: Saved 1/3rd
wastage or 2as per cent on sicca weight 38,400,000 of bullion required to be
melted to produce Sicca
rupees 26,700,000 48,000 Hire
of lever men estimated at 40 men to
each of six mills relieved 4 times in
24 hours at 5 rupees per man 57,600 adjusters
less one half 8,400 Stampers
etc etc 4,000 Total Rs
118,000 Proper machinery once
procured would afford the power of extending the operations of the mint to a
coinage of upwards of 300,000 pieces, with the trifling additional expense
for fuel etc per day, and would render the Calcutta mint equal to the demands
of the whole of the provinces under the Presidency of Bengal. In that case it
might eventually be found unnecessary to retain the provincial mints, and
their discontinuance would be attended by a further saving of more than a lac of rupees per annum, making in the aggregate, such an
arrangement taking effect, an estimated saving of 218,000 rupees per annum.
We notice this to do away any objection arising from the first expence of the machinery, which could bear no proportion
to the permanent advantages to be derived from it, and if these be not
overrated, we conceive the same arrangement might be beneficially extended to
the Presidencies of Madras and Bombay. A
new mint was constructed at the former place a few years ago, which doubtless
may be easily adapted for the reception of improved machinery. That now in
use there was prepared at this mint and must be equally imperfect with our
own. At
The
working wastage of precious metals and the expense of the establishments of
the above mentioned mints are not less, we imagine, than they are here, and
they might be proportionably reduced by the introduction of the imported
system of coinage, the result of which, in the aggregate, would probably be a
saving to Government in the mint departments under the three Presidencies, of
4 lacs per annum, and would be attended with the further advantage of their
being all placed in a more efficient state than has hitherto been the case.
We have been led to these observations from conviction that the subject is in
every way worthy of the serious consideration of Government. They submitted plans for a new mint building: We have herewith the honor to submit an elevation and plan for
the proposed new mint, made out by the assistant Assay Master, with due
attention to that systematic arrangement which it is highly necessary to
observe in constructing a building of such magnitude, and for such a purpose.
Care has been taken to allow space for the building required for the steam
engines and boilers. Our object has been to form a plan which would answer
equally well for the new or the old system of coinage. The building might be
therefore speedily commenced upon, and far advanced before the machinery
could arrive from We
requested the Superintendent of Public building to furnish the accompanying
estimate of the probable expense that would attend the erection of this
building and likewise to state for the information of your committee what he
considered might be a fair valuation to affix to the present mint, as in case
of its removal and the premises being sold or transferred to any other
department for public purposes, the real or estimated amount of their value
should be considered as a set off against the outlay for the new mint. There
are [many] obvious reasons why it would be preferable that the mint should be
erected near the river, tho’ this is not indispensibly necessary. Its
being placed however at any considerable distance from the General Treasury,
and the vicinity of the merchantile houses in and discussed a proposed establishment: The remaining part of Mr
Secretary McKenzie’s letter to be noticed, is that which relates to the
general revision of the mint establishment. No distinct proposition on this
subject can be submitted by us until we ascertain the sentiments of
Government in regard to our present suggestions, though we may mention as the
basis of any arrangement to be hereafter made, that we conceive it indispensible that instead of the undefined duties
discharged by the different assistants in the mint, distinct departments
should be placed under their superintendance
severally and exclusively, to effect which their numbers must be increased. It
may be well to observe that the 21st page of the printed account,
relates to the constitution of the Royal Mint, details the number of officers
there employed, and the distinct duties to be performed by them, and also
shows the forms observed in conducting the business of that institution. Many
useful hints may hereafter be taken from this account. The
View of the Mint Committee on a New Calcutta Mint The Mint Committee agreed with this proposal and added
their own comments. They pointed out that in Europe, dealers preferred to
keep their gold and silver as bullion, whereas in India they preferred to
have it turned into coin, and this meant that the Calcutta mint had a very
high throughput [3]: The extension of the
powers of the Calcutta mint has already shown to be a matter of the most urgent
necessity, by the correspondence between the Mint Master and the Accountant
General, forwarded to us by Mr Secretary McKenzie’s letter above mentioned,
and the utter impossibility of coining the amount of bullion brought for
coinage during the present year, has been attended with much private and
public embarrassment and loss. There is therefore no doubt as to the general
expediency of the measure, especially as during seasons of tranquility the perpetual recurrence of these evils may
be expected. The mint committee drew attention to the fact that the
Calcutta mint was in an unusual position when compared to the mints of
Europe, particularly in regard to the incessant need for recoinage because of
the low amount of wear allowed on the coins: The mint of The
coinage of the In addition, the fact that private individuals were
allowed to have their bullion coined meant even more work for the mint: The facilities granted
to individual proprietors of bullion, and the habits of the people, attract
to one or other of the Indian mints perhaps all the bullion that is imported.
There is no public depository like the Bank of Public
regulations and private feelings thus cooperating to keep the mint employed,
it follows that employment will be limited only by the amount of the bullion
tendered for coinage. The Asiatic absorption of the precious metals was a
subject of complaint to the ancient, and the complaint has been repeated in
modern times. There is in fact little else that the European trader can be certain
of a demand for, in the East, and until the Asiatic modes of living and
thinking have undergone very important modifications, the profitable trade in
Indian articles must be chiefly maintained in the European part, by the
importation of the precious [metals]. The Mint Committee went on to discuss how big the total
output of the mint had been, and included figures for the mints at Benares
and Farrukhabad for the previous several years and they stated that, for the
previous three years, the importation of bullion had amounted to the
equivalent of 30 million rupees. The With regard to the
extent of that importation it is impossible to form any positive conjecture,
although we may confidently anticipate its being considerable. We find from
official documents that during 15 years of war, the
That for the last six years,
ending with 1818, the mints of Calcutta, Benares and Farrukhabad have coined
annually more than 23 millions.
*NB slight differences
from above
That the custom house returns
of bullion imported by sea, during the three last years
average 37 millions and that in the seven first
months of this year, from January to July, the value of the bullion sent to
the mint by individual proprietors alone amounts to two crore and eighteen
lacs, nearly twenty two millions of rupees. The amount of these remittances
during so long a period of which the greater proportion was so unpropitious
to foreign intercourse and the necessity for such supplies during a condition
of the market here which time alone can materially alter, sanction the
expectation that we shall continue to receive large supplies of precious
metals for some time to come, but the Calcutta mint is not competent to this
probable demand for coinage. The fact that the mint could not cope with the amount of
bullion delivered to it, meant that the Government was obliged to issue notes
for the outstanding amount, and pay interest on these notes: The inadequacy of the
present establishment has been proved by the statement of the Mint Master and
the extent of this incompetency may be further estimated by the returns of
the coinage this year compared with the amount of bullion received. The
latter on public and private account exceeds 22,800,000 or twenty two
millions. The former amounts to but 12,600,000 or little more than half the
first, compelling the Government to grant notes payable at a distant period
and therefore bearing interest for the uncoined balance, and consequently
entailing an extra expense for the preservation of public good faith and
private accomodation. The mint committee considered that, although the new mint
might require a few more people to run it, eventually this would prove to be
financially justified: The heaviest part of the
mint expenditure we have on a former occasion observed is necessarily that of
a fixed establishment to which however the advantage is annexed of not
augmenting with increase of work. Now, although in placing the The Mint Committee then went on to discuss
what should be done, recommending that equipment should be obtained from To
qualify the Calcutta mint to meet a reasonably high demand, it is
unquestionably necessary to construct it on a new and systematic plan, to
provide it with additional and improved machinery, and to extend and
reorganise some branches of its establishment, objects we shall now proceed
to consider. The construction of the present mint
as opportunity afforded and chance directed is too notoriously defective to
require any explanation. It is quite sufficient to go through it to see that
there can be no methodical arrangement of successive issue and delivery
through the different departments in the order of their work, that the
offices generally are deficient in space and accomodation,
and that their confined limits, their want of light and air, their detached
situation and exposed and inconvenient access, present insurmountable
obstacles to the very essential exercise of that personal superintendance
which the Mint Master and his assistants are expected to bestow. The loss of
time and want of control thus induced are sufficient arguments for an
entirely new plan of these buildings. But such a measure becomes in fact
unavoidable when we find that besides their unfitness for the objects of
their construction and the impossibility of adapting them to the introduction
of improved mechanical means, they are reported by the Superintendent of the
Public Buildings to be in a condition which requires extensive and chargeable
repairs. The absolute necessity of a new mint
is therefore, we conceive, fully established and it only remains to determine
upon the plan and the situation of the mint and the probable expense of its
erection. The plan and estimate, it appears from the report of the officers
of the mint, have been prepared, but as some difficulty occurs with respect
to the situation of the mint, by which the plan and estimate must be finally
modified, it has been necessary to retain them for some time longer. We have
in the meantime considered it expedient to forward the accompanying report
and to express our sentiments on the general question. It seemed obvious to the mint
committee, from the report of the mint and assay masters, that a new mint was
necessary and that the best way of getting it would be to send someone to The
advantages of improved means of coining can scarcely need to be pointed out
when they are evidently and urgently required in the They also considered the cost of
obtaining spare parts from The
expense of a new set of machinery must be heavy and its being kept up by
supplies from Europe as in the case of the cast iron materials especially,
will entail a further charge. It is to be hoped however that the progress of
scientific research in this country will at no distant period discover means
of melting and casting iron, and we shall then be able to repair and renew,
as heretofore, all the apparatus of the mint within its walls. The first
expense therefore is the only object of any magnitude and this will very soon
be covered by the large savings which it must enable the mint to realize,
amounting as particularized in the accompanying report to an estimated annual
retrenchment of rupees 118,000, on a coinage which the mint will easily
effect, and consequently to more than 3½ lacs, if the power is as it is
proposed to be, tripled in extent. That the up-country mints may in that case
be finally dispensed with, admits of little doubt, and their abolition will
effect a further saving of more than one lac of rupees per year, making a
total annual reduction that must very soon repay any cost incurred in the
erection of the mint and its full equipment with the most effective
machinery. Finally they discussed the management
structure that they might put in place for the new mint: The
establishment that may be required for such a mint as we hope the Calcutta
mint may be rendered, is a subject on which we are scarcely prepared to
enter, especially as the officers of the mint have hesitated to proceed at
present into the necessary detail. As far as we are acquainted with the
constitution of this mint however, and by comparing it with the mint of Great
Britain, as detailed in the printed pages accompanying, we are led to
conclude that the responsible officers of the Calcutta mint are too few in
number, and discharge duties much too general and undefined. With the
exception of the mint and assay departments and the English account office,
we believe no persons employed in the Calcutta mint besides the inferior
native officers have a charge of any particular division of labour but
exercise merely general superintendence or occasionally assume such a
function as circumstances may demand, an arrangement which is fatal to all
attempts at systematic regularity, individual responsibility and even to the
degree of skill which experience in any particular branch would infallibly
attain in the Royal Mint, as appears from the printed account. The principle
officers are five, the subordinate, but still for the most part independent
officers, twelve, and none of these pretend to any interference with the mechanical
operations of the coinage, which are entirely under the charge of the provost
and company of moneyers, consisting usually of five or six members, men of
property and respectability, with young men of their families and
connections, educated as apprentices and employed under them in the mint. It
would be very unnecessary to adopt this complicated system to its whole
extent, nor is it practicable in the present state of the The
Governor General’s View of the Proposed New Mint The Governor General agreed with the
views of the mint and assay masters, and with the mint committee, in a letter
sent in September 1819 [4]: …His
Lordship in Council fully concurs with your committee in regard to the
necessity of constructing a new mint, with machinery of much more extensive powers
than that of the present Calcutta mint, and considers the suggestions
submitted by you in regard to the future management of the mint to be
generally judicious. Your committee will however, of
course, submit to Government a further report in regard to the establishment
to be entertained when you shall have matured your deliberations on that
subject. With respect to the nature of the
machinery to be used, His Lordship in Council presumes that generally
speaking, the most expedient course will be to be guided by the practice of
the London mint, and the object of preventing the loss and inconvenience,
which must result from any delay or interruption in the coinage is so
important as greatly to outweigh the original charges that will attend the
procuring of the most efficient machinery. His Lordship in Council therefore
desires that your committee should consider and report the extent to which
you may deem it necessary that the powers of the mint should be carried so as
to be calculated to meet the utmost probable demands of Government and
individuals for coinage, and to afford the means of occasionally suspending
the mint operations as circumstances may suggest. It will likewise belong to your
committee in communication with the officers of the mint to consider
particularly how far it may be necessary to introduce any and what special
modifications in the machinery in use at home in order to its better
application to the local circumstances of the Calcutta mint. Selection
of Lieutenant Forbes to go to England The Governor General also discussed
the possibility of finding a suitable person to go to In
considering this subject it would apparently be very useful to seek the aid
of some gentleman conversant in practical mechanics, and at the same time
acquainted with the operation of the mint, and Government will be fully
prepared to receive favourably any suggestion from your committee on the
means of securing to you this advantage. His Lordship in Council also concurs
in the opinion expressed by your committee that advantage would result from
the deputation of some person to But in order to attain the full
benefit of such an arrangement, it appears essential that the person deputed
should possess the qualifications above indicated, and the object does not
appear to Government to be of sufficient importance to justify the incurring
of any large expense in attaining it. Should however your committee meet
with any person so qualified willing to undertake the duty on an allowance
not exceeding 5 or 6 hundred rupees pr month, His Lordship in Council will be
disposed to avail himself of his services on such terms as your committee may
recommend under the above restriction. In the event of no such person being
found, it may be hoped that your committee will still be able with the aid of
professional advice to furnish such information in regard to the peculiar
fashion of the machinery, which local circumstances may suggest with such
models as may enable the mechanics in England readily to understand and
execute what is wanted. You
are requested to proceed in your enquiries on the above points and to submit
the result of them to Government at your earliest convenience. By November, the Governor General had
identified an officer whom he considered suitable for the post [5]: Reviewing
the consideration of the arrangements to be adopted for providing the new
machinery for the Calcutta mint, the Governor General in Council deems it
advisable to avail himself for that purpose of the services of Lieutenant W
Forbes of the engineers, who now holds the situation of surveyor of
Embankment. It is understood that the health of
Lieutenant Forbes is likely at no distant period to compel him to solicit a
temporary relief, at least, from the duties of the last mentioned situation,
if not to seek permission to proceed to Europe for the restoration of his health.
As far therefore as the embankment department is concerned the arrangement
now proposed will only anticipate an inconvenience, which is in all likelyhood unavoidable, while at the same time the
professional skill of Mr Forbes may, the Governor General is assured, be most
beneficially employed in superintending the preparation of the machinery
required for the Calcutta mint… Forbes’ first task would be to learn
all about the operation of the present …In
the meantime Lieutenant Forbes will be instructed to give his particular
attention to the system followed in the Calcutta mint, so as to make himself
fully master of all the peculiarities attending the operations there
conducted, in order that he may distinctly perceive how far these peculiarities
arise merely out of defects, which an improved machinery and establishment
will remedy, or have their origin in the character of the workmen or other
local circumstances which cannot be controlled and to which the machinery and
establishment must be accomodated. He was to be ready to depart for For
the above purpose, Mr Forbes will put himself in immediate communication with
the members of the Mint Committee and the officers of the The experience he has already had will
have sufficiently apprized him of the general state of practical mechanics in
this country, by which of course the nature of the machinery to be provided
for the mint must in some degree be regulated. Once Forbes arrived in In
superintending the preparation of the machinery in The new mint building would not be
started until plans had been sent back to Although
construction of that portion of the new mint which comprises the houses of
the mint officers and the places designed for the receipt and custody of the
bullion may probably [be] commenced whenever the site of the new mint shall
be fixed, it will apparently be necessary to postpone the erection of the
building designed for the reception of the machinery until the nature and
extent of that machinery shall have been fully ascertained and when the
Honble Court shall have finally determined that point, Mr Forbes will
doubtless be instructed by that authority to prepare for transmission to this
country, plans of the machinery and of the buildings in which it is to be
put. For this duty likewise Lieutenant Forbes possesses every necessary
qualification, and by adopting the above course a considerable portion of the
building in question may with advantage be constructed previously to the
arrival of the machinery, and the final completion of the work will thus be
greatly expedited. The plan was that Lieutenant Forbes
would return to his old job once he returned to India. This did not happen,
and Forbes eventually became mint master at It
is understood that Mr Fitzgerald, assistant to the surveyor of embankments,
is fully competent to the executive part of the duty of surveying and the
Governor General in Council accordingly proposes that that officer should
still proceed with the survey as assistant surveyor. The situation of
surveyor of embankments will be kept open and will be resumed by Lieutenant
Forbes on his return. He will before his departure issue such general
instructions to Mr Fitzgerald as may appear calculated to assist his progress
and he will likewise submit to Government a report on the operations which
have been already completed in the district of Burdwan. Mr Forbes will during his absence
cease to draw the allowance attached to the situation of surveyor of
embankments and the Governor General in Council resolves to him in addition
to his military pay and allowances, the sum of sicca rupees 600 per mensum to
cover all expenses incident to his deputation. The Calcutta mint master provided
Lieutenant Forbes with all the information he could about the existing
Calcutta mint [6]: I
have the honor to receive your secretary’s letter of the 12th
ultimo transmitting for my information and guidance an extract from the
resolutions of Government in the financial department relative to the proposed
departure for England of lieutenant Forbes of the Engineers for the purpose
of superintending the preparation of the machinery required for the new
Calcutta mint, and directing me to communicate with him on such points of
local consideration as are immediately connected with that object. In order to give Lieutenant Forbes a
general idea of the defects which pervade the system of coining now in
practice at the Calcutta mint, I have furnished him with extracts from my
address to your committee under date the 7th March 1818, and from
the joint letter from Mr Wilson and myself dated the 11th August
1819, which gave rise to the determination of Government to erect a new mint
with improved machinery to procure which is the special object of his
mission. The
perusal of these documents will enable Lieutenant Forbes to direct his
observation in the course of his attendance at the mint to each department
separately, and to distinguish between defects which are susceptible of
remedy by improved machinery, and those which arise out of the nature of the
materials we are obliged to work with, and other peculiarities which may be
supposed to affect the agency of the machinery when obtained. The character and habits of the native
workmen, and the fuel obtainable here, come under the latter description, and
should not of course be lost sight of by him when in The Governor General wanted a
knowledgeable person to be sent out with the new mint not only to oversee the
construction but with a view to continued employment. Also he considered that
a die sinker should be sent from It
will of course be considered necessary that some skillful
person should be sent out with the machinery to superintend its first
erection, and instruct the mechanics here how to keep it in order. The propriety
of retaining his services for a continuance at this mint may hereafter be
determined upon. I strongly recommend that a skillful
die sinker be also sent out who might instruct a certain number of boys from
the orphan or free school in the art of die sinking. This important
department of the mint should be taken out of the hands of native engravers
and the dies should be of such superior workmanship as to render it
impossible for common artists to counterfeit the coins. Apparently there had been some
agreement to change the design of the coins, though no other records
referring to this have been found. To start with, the Governor General
thought it best that dies should also be sent from As
it has been determined that a change should be made in the superscription of
the coins, and as it is impossible for a considerable length of time to
prepare a sufficient stock of dies here for the new coinage, I submit whether
it would not be expedient in the first instance to have them sent out from England,
where they might be prepared by an artist of eminent taste and skill under
the inspection of Lieutenant Forbes. A letter legend or chain milling would
better secure the edges of the coin against drilling, which is a common
practice in this country. It is here noticed as I believe by the new
machinery the coins are stamped and milled at the same time. If these
suggestions meet the approbation of your committee, Lieut
Forbes may be instructed accordingly. My communications with him have been
confined to the points I was directed to draw his attention to. The machinery should be capable of
producing 400,000 coins per day: As
it is highly important that the new mint should be rendered equal to the
utmost probable demands on it as well from the General Treasury as from
individuals, for halves and quarters rupees, I recommend that the machinery
be ordered for a coinage of 400,000 pieces per day (of 12 hours). A coinage
of copper might then be conducted when required without interfering with that
of gold and silver. The system of working at the mint during the night should
certainly be put a stop to, as it involves considerable risk and requires
such extra attendance on the part of the officers of the mint as it cannot be
expected they should give for a constancy, tho’ in
times of emergency such as the past 15 months have been, they have done so
cheerfully. It is likewise expedient that there should be some cessation to
the operations of the mint in order that due attention may be paid to
economy. At His Majesty’s mint the coinage is principally conducted by
contract. Here, the Mint Master makes the best arrangements he can for the interests
of Government, with the native workmen, who are ever ready to take advantage
in time of emergency. Finally, the Governor General
considered that certain other equipment and raw materials should be sent from
Whatever
be the amount determined for the extent of the daily coinage at the new mint,
arrangements should be made for ensuring a suitable annual supply of cast
iron, crucibles and ingot moulds, until we may have the means of casting them
ourselves, or procuring them in this country. They might be brought out as
ballast, I imagine, at a moderate expense. A quantity of firebricks for
constructing the new furnaces, and occasional supplies of them might be sent
out in the same way, as it is the opinion of Lieutenant Forbes that the
proper description of fire bricks are not easily procurable in the country. Forbes planned to leave for England on
about 27th December 1819 and sent a letter to the Mint Committee
summarising everything that he had learnt about the existing Calcutta mint,
and this is a summary of what has been discussed above and in chapter 7 [7]. He
does add some interesting observations of his own. For instance, the coinage of a lac
of rupees requires 236 people just to adjust the weight of the blanks. The
Mint Committee added a covering letter to Forbes’ as they passed it on to the
Calcutta Government. This includes the following: We
further recommend the adoption of Mr Saunder’s
suggestion for postponing the proposed change in the impression of the coin
until a supply of dies can be procured from We think it advisable that the
denomination of the coin should be impressed on it and it will be proper we
think, to avoid any reference to dates. In other respects we attach little
importance to the nature of the device or legend. The Musselman prejudice
against representations of animals is of course known to Government, but we
imagine from the impression chosen by the Nawab Vizier, now King of Oude,
that it is of little weight. Forbes received his final instructions
on Doty has presented an excellent account of the events
surrounding the building of the steam-driven mint, supplied by Boulton, Watt
& Co during the 1820s [9]. Matthew Boulton was first approached
about the possibility of building a mint for the East India Company as early
as 1808. The initial discussion revolved around the possibility of building
two mints, one at Calcutta and one at Madras, but this changed to building
just one at Madras and then again to building just one at Calcutta, but
smaller than previously planned, having five coining presses instead of the
original eight. Sometime during 1809, this project was dropped for reasons
that are not entirely clear. Forbes arrived in Plans for the new mint were drawn
early in 1821 and approved on 2nd April, and during that year Forbes
learnt more about the science of coining when he helped produce a copper
coinage for By March 1823 the equipment was ready
for shipping to Once the machinery had arrived in A Mr Wood believed that the coin
should have the weight and fineness in English and Nagari on one side, and on
the other should have the word Sonnat and Sicca or
the words 16 annas or 15 annas in ‘English,
Persian, Nagree, Bengallee,
Tillughee, Malabar and the other native characters’. Forbes himself believed that letters
around the edge, or milling, would be unnecessary and that counterfeiting was
better prevented by a perfect artistic design. He discussed the coat of arms
as a possible device and dismissed it. He then suggested a solitary lion
associated with a palm, and asked the committee to look at a model of the
device executed by Rouw after a drawing by Flaxman.
This seems to be the first mention of this design, which, though not used
immediately, was later adopted for the gold coins of 1835. Mr Mackenzie initially thought that
the design should be left to someone in A Mr Money agreed about the lion and
palm but suggested that the other side of the coin should have the head of “our noble King, George IV”, the first
mention of the adoption of the British monarch as a design for the coins of The views of several political
Residents were collected concerning the acceptability of a European device on
the coins of As well as
providing the machinery, it was necessary for Boulton & Watt to recruit a
number of trained mechanics to go to
Continued on
next page
Europeans who helped build the new
mint It
is immediately apparent that many of the men sent out to provide the
necessary mechanical expertise did not survive very long in the pestilential
climate of The new mint did not come into
operation in one go, but over a period of time. For instance laminating of
silver began in 1827 and the first coins were produced in 1830 [11]: …The committee are aware
that the copper coinage in all its branches is now conducted at the new mint,
that since June 1827 the silver laminating business has been carried on
there, and that in April last I was directed to commence upon a series of
experimental meltings and to report the result at
the end of three months. These meltings have
latterly turned out so well that I do not anticipate any impediment to the
early transfer of this part of the business to the new mint… Doty
suggests that the coins struck in 1830 would have been the one pie coins
authorised for circulation in 1831. He argues that the coins could have been
prepared in advance of being put into circulation. This seems to open an
unnecessary complication. Pridmore has recorded that the mint master proposed
making changes to the copper pice in 1829, and that specimens were submitted
to the Mint Committee on In his account, Doty notes interesting
information about the huge numbers of blank dies that were shipped out to By 1830, the new mint was also cutting
out the blanks for the silver coins and these were then struck in the old
mint [12] …15th Apart from
time occupied in superintending or practically directing work (which defying
further classification, as progress has been affixed in the form of an
inventory) the committee are aware that in the course of the past year much
of the time of the new mint establishment has been taken up on experimental
coinages and meltings, in effecting the copper
coinage alluded [to], in managing the machinery for the laminating of heavy
slab copper for a coinage still in progress, in rolling the silver and gold
(and recently in cutting out the rupee blanks) struck at the old mint… Despite
the extensive discussion of a new design for the coins, the new steam-driven
mint actually continued to issue gold and silver coins of the old 19 sun
sicca design. A pattern for the new gold coinage was prepared in about 1830
and the gold coinage itself began in 1831. The coins can be distinguished
from earlier issues by the presence of a tiny crescent at the top left of the
reverse.
Crescent
on reverse of gold coins Like
the gold coins, the silver coins continued with the same design as those
issued from the old In 1833 a change in the weight of the
rupee from 191.916 grains to 192 grains was introduced. This difference is
too small to detect, and no other distinguishing marks have been noted. Both the Calcutta sicca and the
Farrukhābād rupees were issued during this time. Apart from the
different mint names, Murshīdābād for Calcutta and
Farrukhābād for the eponymous place, the coins can be distinguished
by weight.
Half
anna issued from the new mint At
first, the copper coins continued in the style that had been issued since the
1790s, but a new design was approved in 1831 and this differed from all
previous coins issued from the Statement
of Copper Pice Coined and Issued from December 1832 to January 1836 inclusive
[13]
The
output of copper coins was also discussed in 1836 [14]: I
have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 25th ultimo
with its enclosures from the secretary to the Government of India Finance
department directing that I should forward musters of each description of
copper coin of this Presidency, including Trisoolies,
for transmission to the Government of Fort St George, and in compliance with
this order, I have now the honor of forwarding 6 specimens of the copper
currency of Bengal, which may be classified as follows: A
– Double pice with raised edge, first struck in the new mint in the year
1831/82. There
were 3,506,447 of these coined and coinage was discontinued, January 1835 B
– Single pice with raised rim first struck at the new mint in 1831/32 There
were 98,701,953 of these coined and the coinage was discontinued September
1835 C
– Pie pieces or 1/3 of a pice with raised rim, first struck at the new mint
in 1831/32 There
were 21193436 of these coined. The coinage was discontinued in May 1835 … Mint Masters of the Calcutta Mint
Mint masters of the
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Reverences