Minute
Agreed that we
direct the chiefs of Patna & Dacca to have one rupee taken indiscriminately
out of every thousand coined in their mints and to send musters of those so
selected to the Calcutta Assay Master every month, by whom they are to be assayed
Minute.
The Mint Master
begs leave to lay before the Board two reports from the Assay Master whereby it
appears that the
Agreed we enclose
copies of them to the resident for his more particular information and remark
to them that some mistake must have been made in the assays at Moorshidabad and
inform him we mean the 11 sun siccas should be coined in all the mints exactly
the same.
Assay report from
Herbert Harris (Assay Master at
|
Specie of Rupee |
Number of each specie to weigh 100 sicca weight |
Quantity of pure silver in 100 sicca weight of each
specie |
Quantity of alloy in 100 sicca weight of each
specie |
Number of sicca Rs that 100 sicca weight of each
specie will produce |
Number of current rupees better or worse pr cent on
100 sicca weight of each specie |
|
|
|
100.
. |
91.14.8 |
2.1.4 |
100 |
Batta on sicca wt
curr Rs |
16 |
|
Moorshedabad Siccas |
100.1.6 |
97.14.8 |
2.1.4 |
100 |
“ |
16 |
|
Moorshedabad sonats
with the mark |
100.6 |
97.14.8 |
2.1.4 |
100 |
“ |
16 |
|
|
100.2 |
97.8 |
2.8 |
99.9.3 |
“ |
15.8.3 |
|
|
101.2 |
96.10.8 |
3.5.4 |
98.11.7 |
“ |
14.8.6 |
|
|
100.3 |
96.10.8 |
3.5.4 |
98.11.7 |
“ |
14.8.6 |
|
Moorshedabad sonats
without the mark |
Vary in weight |
95.13.4 |
4.2.8 |
97.14 |
“ |
13.8.9 |
|
French Arcots |
102.
. |
95.6.8 |
4.9.4 |
97.7.2 |
“ |
13.-.9 |
|
|
102.
. |
94.2.8 |
5.13.3 |
96.2.9 |
“ |
11.8.9 |
|
Old |
|
93.13.8 |
6.2.4 |
95.14 |
“ |
11.3.6 |
|
New |
103.2 |
93.12 |
6.4 |
95.12 |
“ |
11.1 |
|
Moorshedabad Arcots |
102.
. |
93.10.4 |
6.5.8 |
95.10.4 |
“ |
10.15 |
|
Old Ouzeree Rupees |
104 to 106 |
90 |
10.
. |
91.14.8 |
“ |
6.11 |
|
New Ouzaree Rupees |
104.4 |
83.15.4 |
16.-.8 |
85.12 |
Worse on 100 Sicca wt
Curr Rs |
-.8.6 |
|
New ouzeries 2nd
sort |
Various weights |
80.
. |
20.
. |
81.11.6 |
“ |
5.3.6 |
|
Narrainy rupees |
|
43.5.4 |
56.10.8 |
44.4.4 |
“ |
48.10.5 |
Public Letter
dated 25th January 1770 from Calcutta to London
We have assured
you in our letter of
Resolution
For the above
mentioned reasons it is therefore agreed and resolved
That 12 sun siccas
shall be coined in the several mints, in the same manner as the 11 suns were
last year, and that the annual coinage of siccas shall hereafter continue to be
marked as usual with the current year of the King’s reign.
That the 11 suns
shall not fall in their value, but shall pass on the same footing as siccas of
the present and every future year throughout the provinces, and that whenever
siccas of any future year shall be issued they shall not reduce the siccas of
the former years as far back as the 11 suns to the state of sonauts, but they
shall be considered & pass in payment at the same value as the siccas of
the current year.
That the 10 sun
sicca shall be considered and shall pass as a sonaut rupee and that all other
species of rupee shall pass and be received as heretofore.
Agreed also that
the above resolutions shall be transmitted to the Moorshidabad & Patna
revenue councils in the following letters for their guidance:
There then follow
copies of the letters
Letter from the
By the new
regulations which you have been pleased to establish, sonaut rupees, we
apprehend, will no longer be procurable for the payment of the brigades stationed
in this province. We at present issue ¾ sonauts & ¼ siccas and the siccas
are valued at 15 per cent better then current agreeably to a resolution
established during Lord Clive’s administration, but of late their value in the
bazaar has only been from 2 to 3 per cent better than sonauts, and the
Moorshedabad siccas have been one per cent worse then the Patna siccas,
notwithstanding we have done all in our power to make them pass at an equal
rate, and in other parts of the province the difference is still greater.
The troops in
consequence have not failed to express some discontent at being paid even a 1/4 in siccas and of
course they will be much more dissatisfied now that siccas must be paid them in
a much larger proportion
Letter from
We have received
your letters of the 6th & 7th instant and are greatly
concerned at the inconveniences which Lieut. Col. Grant represents to be
experienced by the troops at Monghyr on account of the Muxedavad siccas advanced
to them in part of their monthly pay.
Tho’ our
resolution is fixed for carrying into execution the new regulations concerning
the coinage, and we expect every endeavour on your part to enforce them within
your department, we shall consider at the same time on some measures to prevent
the army being sufferers, and in the meantime we desire that you will issue as
many sonauts to the troops as you possibly can.
It appears
surprizing to us that the troops at Monghyr, or indeed anyone, should be able
to distinguish the Patna siccas from those of Muxadavad after our positive
orders have been issued that all siccas coined at the different mints of
Muxadavad, Patna, Calcutta and Dacca should be of the same fineness and stamp
and that they should have no distinguishing mark whatever. We desire that you
should make an enquiry into this matter and inform us of the result.
There is then a
letter from
Letter from
We have been
favoured with your letter of 16th September and shall pay strict
obedience to your commands.
We are informed
that in the mint at Moorshedabad the rupees are stamped immediately upon
cooling, whereas here they are rubbed over with lime juice or some other acid
and put a second time in the fire, before they are stamp’t and that this makes
a difference in the colour. If you approve it, we might cause the same mode to
be observed here as we are told is done at the city, but we believe in spite of
every precaution which can be taken, the shroffs will still continue to
distinguish the coinage of the different mints. We beg leave to enclose for
your observation four Moorshedabad and four
Ordered that the
rupees be sent to the Mint Master with the directions to assay them and report
the results to the Board.
Agreed the
following directions be sent in reply
We have received your
letter of the 8th instant, enclosing musters of siccas from the
Muxadabad and Patna mints in which a difference of colour is very perceptible,
and to put a stop to a distinction which tends to the obstruction of our design
of having nothing in the appearance of the rupees coined in the several mints
by which they could be distinguished from each other, we desire that particular
care may be taken in future that the same method of coining may be used at the
Patna mint as in that of Moorshedabad.
Letter from
Herbert Harris (Calcutta Mint Master) to Government dated
I have now the
honor to lay before you the reports of the four Moorshedbad and the four
Report of four
Moorshedabad siccas assayed at
Weight
1 oz. 9 dwt. 22 ½ grs.
Average
Wt 7 dwt. 11 5/8 grs.
Assay 2 rupees better 12 ½ dwts
1 ditto 12 ¼ dwts
1 ditto 12 ¾ dwts
Average
better 12 ½ Dwts. Then English standard, should weigh 7 dwts 11 2/3
grs, is therefore 1/8gr less than weight, and should be 13 dwts better than
English standard, therefore is ½ dwt worse then should be; the deficiency in
weight and fineness is equivalent to 4 annas, 5 pice per cent.
Report of four
Weight
1 oz 9 dwts. 22 2/3 grs.
Average weight 7
dwts. 11 2/3 grs.
Assay 2 rupees better 13 dwts
2 ditto 13 ¼ dwts
Average better 13
1/16 dwts better then English standard is therefore 1/16 of a pennyweight
better than the sicca standard, equal to five pice and one quarter of a pie per
cent.
Agreed copies of
them be sent to the Councils of Revenue at Moorshedabad & Patna with the
following letters
We herewith send
you the reports of the Mint Master’s assay of 4
By these reports
you will perceive that the Moorshedabad sicca is deficient both in weight and
fineness and on the contrary that the
As such a
deviation from the standard and consequently such a difference in the rupees
coined at the two mints must obstruct most essentially the success of our plan,
and will be productive of many inconveniences besides reflecting on the credit
of Government, we must particularly desire that you will investigate the causes
of it and be careful that the siccas be in future kept up to the standard to their
weight and fineness, and we desire that you will be regular in sending us
monthly a rupee taken indiscriminately out of those in the mint that the same
may be assayed and reported to us.
Public Letter
dated 15th November 1771 from Calcutta to London
To enforce and
support these regulations which we have made in regard to the coinage has been our
constant endeavour and care. We were therefore surprised on being informed from
As our regulations
had forbidden any distinction in the stamp and the mark, or difference in the
weight or fineness of any of the siccas, we were at a loss to find out the method
by which they distinguished the
Our immediate
orders for having the same method of coining pursued in both mints and
injunctions for having the standard and fineness strictly adhered to will, we
hope, prevent in future such distinctions in their current value, and remove
those obstructions which have been thrown in the way of the new regulations by
the shroffs, whose chief support and maintenance have been the batta and
exchange of rupees.
Letter to
We enclose for your
information the copy of a report delivered to us by the Mint Master whereby it
appears that the Patna Sicca sent down in your letter of the […] proves to be
half a penny weight worse than sicca standard.
We deswire that
you will issue strict orders for keeping up the coin to the standard and
purity, and inform the persons employed in the mint that a repetition of this
fault will meet our warm [...]
Letter from
We have been
favoured with your letters of the 20th & 26th
February. I consequence of the report which has been made to you of the badness
of the Patna sicca which we transmitted to you the 6th inst., we
called before us the officers of the mint and severely reprimanded them and
warned them of the punishment to which a repetition of their neglect would
expose them. And we beg leave to enclose for you observation three sicca rupees
which we have now caused to be taken indiscriminately out of the mint.
Letter from
We herewith
transmit you a separate account of the real charges of coinage in our mint. The
duties paid by the merchants are as follows
On silver after
refining it to the proper standard Sicca 1.4 [per cent Sicca]
On gold 5 anna
sicca per Mohur or [sicca Rs 31.4 per cent mohurs]
When sonauts are
brought to be recoined into sicca the merchants pay more or less according to
the difference of batta in the bazaar between sicca and sonauts. If it be two
per cent they give 102 sonts to be made into 100 siccas. If three per cent they
give 103 and so on
Letter from the
Calcutta Mint Master (Herbert Harris) to Government dated
I beg leave to
submit to your consideration the accompanying letter from Mr Touchet, the Assay
Master, respecting some gold mohurs which have of late been issued from the
mint at Patna considerably below the fixed standard, and tho’ it is not easy to
trace how long this debasement of the coin has taken place, yet some judgement
might I believe be formed was the quantity of gold coined at the several mints
compared together.
It is encumbent on
me to observe that tho’ the gentlemen under whose inspection this department
belongs may be no judge of the fineness of gold, yet the black people who have
been brought up in the mint will acquire from practice by the touch very
competent knowledge, especially where the metal is required in its greatest
purity, the alloy being so very small that it cannot possibly make any
perceptible alteration in the colour.
It is almost
unnecessary to mention to you gentlemen the very destructive consequences that
may attend the debasement of [ye] gold coin when it is
so well known that the proportion observed between the sicca rupee and the gold
Mohur tends evidently to encourage the importation of gold in preference to
silver. How much more so must it when the coin is adulterated.
Letter from Samuel
Touchet (Assay Master) to Herbert Harris (Mint Master), dated
Having been
induced by the badness of their appearance to assay some of the Patna twelve
sonne gold mohurs, of which there are great numbers now circulating here, I
think it my duty to acquaint you with the result of my experiment in order that
the same may be laid before the Honble the President in Council, that they be
convinced how dangerous it is to suffer a coinage, unless under the control of
persons sufficiently acquainted with that branch. These gold mohurs which bear
the Patna stamp for the present year are pretty exact in weight and therefore
not likely to be objected to when offered in payment to people who are no
further judges of their intrinsic value, but turn out in the assay 22 carats 2
grains fine instead of 23 carats 3 ¾ grains, the standard fixed for gold mohurs
in 1769, and are therefore deficient 23 fine parts out of 383 contained in the
above standard, which constitute near 6 per cent of their value.
I likewise sent
you herewith a report of the weight and assay of one Moorshedabad gold Mohur of
the present years coinage, which you will perceive likewise something deficient
in fineness, but I must here observe that the above mentioned standard which
requires only one 384th part of alloy & 383 parts fine gold
tends more to enhance the expense of coinage and foil the Assay Master than to
produce any advantage derived from its excessive fineness, as it increases the
labour in refining and as no experiment can at all times be ascertained with
the degree of accuracy necessary to adhere to so fine a standard.
Letter to George
Vansittart (Chief at
We enclose you a
copy an address and report from our Mint Master by which it appears that some gold
mohurs have been issued from your mint of a quality inferior to standard. We
desire an enquiry may be made after the offenders that they may be severely
punished if discovered, and as no payments on account of the revenues are made
in the gold coinage, we are opinion that no mohurs should be coined, excepting
a few at the commencement of each year for the usual nuzzers to the King etc.
Minute entered by
Mr Barwell
Upon the report
made by the Assay Master of the value of the gold mohurs, I think it necessary
to observe that during the few months I presided at that factory, I refused
every application that was made to me for the coining of gold specie because I
thought it in no respect tended to bring into circulation gold bullion, or to
encourage its importation. I mention this circumstance that the inattention of
the officers of the
Letter dated
On a report made
to us by the Mint and Assay Master of the business of the gold currency coined
at Patna which although pretty exact in weight turned out in assay only 22
carrats 2 grains fine instead of 23 carrats 3¾ grains which was the fixed
standard, we resolved, as no payments on account of the revenues were made in
the gold specie, to forbid their coining any more except a few at the
commencement of each year for the usual nussars to the King etc., at the same
time directed them to enquire after the offenders and if possible to discover
them that they might be severely punished.
…To remove the diversity of
silver currency minted in four mints of the Bengal Presidency he [Hastings] had
already abolished Patna and Dacca [mints] in 1773… [where this info came is not
clear]
Letter from H.
Cottrell (member of the Committee of Revenue) to Government dated
Queries stated by
the Honble the Governor General & Council
1.
Whether it is not expedient to re-establish the mints
of
2.
Whether supposing the Antient (sic) mints to be
re-established all the rupees shall be struck as has hitherto been the practice
with the name of Moorshedabad only or the rupees of each mint shall bear the
name of the place to which it belongs.
I should esteem
the re-establishment of the mint at
Should only one
mint be established in
This subject might
be considered in an other light. Whether
these mints are established by royal firmaunds or what authority. If the
former, how far the Company as Dewan have the power of suspending their force,
and if they have not that power how far they may by thus exercising the power
of the sovereign afford arguments to the prejudice of the dewanny right to such
as wish to consider this as a conquered country. But I will wave considering it
in this point of view as I am not master of the circumstances on which the
argument is to be founded.
With respect to
the name to be struck on the coinage provided the rupees of the different mints
are received in all the treasuries at the same value, I can see no objection to
their bearing the true name where they are struck. The only reason to be given
against it is to prevent the fluctuation of batta upon them in the common
intercourse among merchants and the inconvenience attending that. But there can
never be so much similitude between the coinage of one mint and another but it
will be discoverable to the nice eye of a shroff from which adulteration can
scarce lie concealed. And the fluctuation of their value will be as effectively
prevented by receiving them all at the same rate into the public treasuries or
by any means whatsoever
Letter from J
Holmes (member of the Committee of Revenue) to Government, dated
The remote
distance of those settlements from the Presidency and each other added to the
extent of the country within the provinces would seem to plead for a
re-establishment of their mints.
It may also be
urged that if they are not re-established, the shroffs will have it in their
power to impose what batta they please upon old or debased money to the great
prejudice of commerce in general, and of the Company’s
investment in particular.
Upon these
arguments it may be observed in the one case that extent of territory will
probably never impede the free circulation of an uniform established currency
into all parts of the provinces, and in the other that the Company’s commercial
interests and those of the state being now united, all partial distinctions
amongst the shroffs are of course abolished since they are no longer
practicable. Consequently should a batta be found at any time necessary to
bring the depreciated coins upon a par with the new, it would be invariably as
the demand and the quantity of specie in circulation.
Therefore could not be more a grievance than new money under similar
circumstances of an insufficiency for the purposes of trade and ordinary
occasions would in like manner be subject to a rateable batta,
When the antient
mints of
The immense wealth
thus unavoidably entering in the provinces, it became requisite to devise a
means at once of facilitating its currency and of freeing the merchants from
the risk and expense of transporting it to Muxadabad.
To these reasons may
be added the custom which prevailed of a triennial recoinage of the sicca which
was the only legal current rupee throughout the provinces. The usage being now
abolished, this part of the necessity of those mints ceases, of course, but
more especially as the small quantities of bullion now imported are confined
chiefly to
For these reasons
I image a mint at the Presidency would alone answer the purpose of circulating
specie throughout the provinces unless it should be thought eligible to
continue one at Moorshedabad on account of the Dutch having the privilege of
coining in the Government’s mints.
Should more than
one mint be established, either the rupees of each ought to bear the name of
the place to which it belongs or some distinguishing characteristic in order
that impositions may be traced and if a distinction should be deemed necessary
it ought to be such a one as may be known by immediate inspection which even
the shroffs themselves have difficulty in doing at present
Letter dated
We have received
the opinions of the Board of Trade and the several provincial councils upon
questions, referred to them, respecting the benefits or disadvantages that
would accrue from re-establishing the mints at Patna and Dacca and in case they
should be re-established whether it would be most eligible to stamp the coins
with the name of the station of each separate mint or continue as formerly to
affix only that of Moorshadabad. The sentiments returned to us on this subject
were various, and as we deemed the discussion and determination of it, a matter
of great importance, we only then recorded the different letters, leaving the
general subject to be hereafter considered.
Letter to Court 30th
April 1781
We have authorised the
establishment of mints for the copper coinage at Pulta and