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