Extracts from The
After
the British took control of the city in 1817, the Collector, Mr. Dunlop, found the
mint closed and the supply of circulating medium so low as seriously to impede
trade. He therefore re-opened the mint and issued a large quantity of Sicca
rupees valued at 93.292
There
are a number of entries in the records that tell the story of the mint operated
by the British from 1817 to its closure in 18??
Letter
from the Mint Committee to Mr. Warden (Chief Secretary to
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Mr.
Secretary Newnham’s letter dated the 5th instant, referring for our
consideration an extract being the 20th and 29th
paragraphs of a letter from the Collector of Ahmedabad and desiring our opinion
on the several suggestions offered by Mr. Dunlop on the coinage of that city.
In reply we request you will have the goodness to inform
the Right Honorable the Governor in Council that under all the circumstances of
the case, the course pursued by Mr. Dunlop appears quite unobjectionable, and
we would merely beg to suggest, in the meantime, and until some general plan
shall be adopted for the coinage of the whole of the territories under this
Government, that no higher profit should be sought on the coinage at Ahmedabad
than may be sufficient to cover all expenses.
As a means
of placing the mint however, as far as possible under the control of the mint
officers at the Presidency, in the same manner as the Surat mint formerly was,
the Judge and Magistrate should be instructed to proceed without any previous
notice two or three times in the month, at the least, to the mint and oftener
when much business is going on, and to take a few pieces indiscriminately from
the hands of the workmen – say not fewer then ten – and dispatch them under his
seal at the end of the month, to the Mint Mater at the Presidency for
examination.
Dunlop
proposes to abolish a nominal currency called ‘Aunt’ and explains the
background to the problem. In the year of Sumont 1836 (ad 1780/81) the mint was
closed and sicca rupees became scarce so the merchants resorted to transfers in
each other’s books as a method of paying each other. This was referred to as
‘dealing in aunt’. In the year of Sumont 1862 (ad 1805/06) this was prohibited
and this prohibition continued all the time that sicca rupees were available.
However, the mint was again closed [no date given] and dealing in ‘aunt’
started again and continues to this day [i.e.1818].
However, he
goes on, the original purpose has now been prevented and yet, every evening at
the ‘Aunt Bazaar’ people meet to speculate on the value of ‘aunt’. Furthermore
merchants deal in the ‘aunt’ and fluctuations in its value can be turned to
their own advantage by manipulation of the money market. Dunlop proposes that
dealing in ‘aunt’ be prohibited from
Dunlop
answers a list of questions from the Accountant General about ‘aunt’. In
essence he says that it is no longer necessary because there are sufficient
sicca rupees in circulation.
In
reference to my letter of 6th May, I request you will have the
goodness to acquaint the Right Honorable the Governor in Council that the
shroffs of this place had so completely engrossed all the former pice coinage,
with the view of [forcing] the people to accept of a much smaller number than
had been fixed for the rupee, that no change was to be obtained in the city.
Finding it impossible
to ascertain the persons by whom this monopoly was made, it became necessary
for me immediately to coin other pice, for which purpose I purchased one
hundred maund of copper, on the best terms procurable (an account of which
shall be afterwards forwarded) and yesterday began making pice of the same
weight as those now current here, and I am happy to say with the very best
effect, as pice are today in sufficient numbers at every shop for the
established rate of 64 per rupee.
The object
I had in view being thus answered I shall not carry the experiment any further
at present, than the quantity of copper already purchased (with the approbation
of Government) than may from time to time be necessary to defeat similar
interested combinations of shroffs.
In
reference to your letter of 20th February approving of my
proceedings with respect to the Sicca mint at this place, I have the honor to
transmit for information of Government an abstract statement of the sums
coined, and showing also the amount of profit, which has been brought to the
credit of Government.
The
system reported in my letter of 28th December was continued until
the end of February, when the receipt of your letter above referred to,
directing me not to seek a higher rate of profit than might be sufficient to
cover all expenses, determined me to fix the same rate of mint charges as that
taken at the mint in Bombay, namely three per cent, which is considerably
cheaper than the natives have been accustomed to get their bullion coined, so
that the small advantage which accrues to Government on this rate, did not
appear more than sufficient to cover incidental expenses, or more than should
reasonably be paid for coin to secure it from being melted up for common
purposes.
The
amounts allowed both for wastage or melting and forming the coins were found by
experience to be too large and have been accordingly reduced, but the
contractors for smelting, I have reason to believe, have gone rather too far,
and that some small increase to the present allowance will be requisite, the
bullion now melted at 3 rupees per thousand less than the rate formerly
reported to Government.
Every
savings of this description is immediately carried to the credit of Government,
and the whole profit is up to the end of June amount to Rupees 31421.1.82, and
the mint continues to be supplied with bullion, so that there does not appear
any prospect of the working being stopped.
It
seems only requisite for me to notice the large amount of profit which appears
during the first months, the Mint had not been worked before for a considerable
time, siccas had consequently obtained an artificial value, from their
scarcity, and bullion sold from this cause at a very low price, as compared
with sicca rupees.
Several
other causes concurred to produce the same effect. Dollars have been imported
freely for inland speculations, which were all abruptly stopped by the war, so
that there was a great competition at that time to have them coined, as the
only means of saving the interest, or disposing of their commodity.
Under
the circumstances of trouble and responsibility to which the coinage of upwards
of twelve lacs and a half of rupees, has subjected me, and the large profit
which has resulted from my superintendence, I have the honor to request you
will submit my claim to Government for remuneration.
The
duties of Mint Master were long performed by the Collector at Surat, for which,
I am informed, he received a monthly salary, and I request that Government may
be pleased to grant me an allowance, either on this principle or such other as
may appear most advisable to the Right Honorable the Governor in Council.
There
then follows details of the value of rupees coined. In summary:
|
Month |
Value |
|
Dec 1817 |
95067.2.- |
|
Jan 1818 |
211556.3.30 |
|
Feb 1818 |
218083.2.98 |
|
Mar 1818 |
206785.-.- |
|
Apr 1818 |
205668.2.- |
|
May 1818 |
177324.-.- |
|
Jun 1818 |
150124.2.- |
Ordered
that copies of the preceding papers be referred to the Mint Committee with
directions to report on the outturn of the coinage at the mint at Ahmedabad
during 1817/18 and how far the further prosecution of it may be dispense with
in which latter point the Accountant General is to direct the Committee’s
judgement.
Resolved
in reference to the concluding para of the preceding letter, Mr Dunlop be
informed that the Governor in Council is of opinion that he is fully
compensated for execution of the duties of Mint Master by the allowances which
he receives as Collector.
The
output of the Ahmedabad mint was reported as 524,708-0-28 rupees. The Mint
Committee recommended that the coinage should continue but the Financial
Committee resolved that the Ahmedabad authorities should be asked for their
opinion on the necessity of continuing with the coinage given that a new
uniform coinage [for Bombay] would soon be issued following the installation of
a new mint at Bombay. Of course, the new
Letter
from the Assay Master to Government, dated
I
have the honor to submit an abstract report of my examinations of the pix coins
from the Ahmedabad mint forwarded monthly by the Judge and magistrate during
the last year, comformably to the directions of the Right Honorable the
Governor in Council, of the 20th February 1818, and I submit at the
same time a detailed statement of the extent to which I have found separate
coins in each packet to vary in weight and standard.
I
am not aware that the professed standard weight in troy grains or quantity of
pure silver in the Ahmedabad sicca rupees has hitherto been declared, but by
comparing these reports with the weights and mode of calculation in use at the
Ahmedabad mint, there will be no difficulty in establishing one, observing, if
practicable, to have but few fractions; perhaps the best standard would be
weight 181 troy grains and purity or touch 85 1/8 per cent. Each coin would
thus contain 154 grains and a small fraction of no importance, of pure silver.
I suggest this standard because it is very nearly the actual average of the
coins of last year.
The
Honble Board will have much satisfaction in observing the uniformity of the
coins submitted to examinations in as much as it tends to shew that the
measures directed by the Honble Board have been effectually adopted.
The
specimens forwarded by the magistrate were in every state of preparation, from
the most misshapen lump in which they are first cut and weighed, to the perfect
coin, and the manner in which they have stood the test of so close an
examination cannot but prove highly creditable to the gentleman who supervises
the mint.
The
then follows both an abstract and a detailed report of the assays of the coins
produced in: March, May to December 1819.
Minutes
of
Ordered
that copies of the preceding papers be communicated to the Collector at
Ahmedabad with intimation that the result of assay of the Pix coins received
from that month [mint?] is very creditable to his superintendence.
I have the
honor to enclose an assay report of the specimens of the coinage of the
Ahmedabad mint during the months of June, July and August last.
The
gentleman under whose care the coinage is conducted will observe that the
present coins are not on an average quite so good as those which I had the
honor to report upon to the Honble Board on
There is
then a table of assays
Av. Weight
June: 180gr 75dwt; July: 180gr 666dwt; August: 180gr 75dwt.
The
secretary is directed to write the following letter to the Collector at
Ahmedabad:
I am
directed by the Honorable the Governor in Council to transmit to you the
accompanying copy of an assay report of the specimens of the coinage of the
Ahmedabad Mint during the months of June, July and August last.
You will
observe that the present coins are not on an average quite so good as those
reported in the Assay Master’s report of the 19th February 1819, a
copy of which was transmitted to you under date the 27th of that
month, a circumstance to which your attention is directed that it may be
remedied for the future.
I have the honor to request you will submit for the
sanction of the Honble the Governor in Council, the accompanying bill for the
repairs and improvements which were made to the mint, about the beginning of
the rains of 1818 on the occasion of a new set of workmen being employed in the
mint for whom the accommodation was required, as well as the usual annual
repairs to the other buildings.
At the time
this expense was incurred there were no regulations for the Engineer Department
and the repairs having been subsequently transferred, this sum has remained
uncharged until now, and as no other repair were required to the mint that
year, I hope the Honble the Governor in Council will be pleased to sanction the
charge notwithstanding the delay, which has been occasioned by the change of
system as well as of Engineer Officers.
However,
Dunlop continued to have problems in different parts of the district caused
either by a shortage of coins or by a proliferation of other types and the
exchange rates between them. The Ahmedabad Sicca gradually became the dominant
coin until by 1828 there was ‘no other coin current in the district except the
Ahmedabad Sicca’.
In
June 1837 the Company’s rupee was introduced and the Ahmedabad Siccas were
gradually withdrawn as they were paid into the treasury. However, even by 1849
there were still estimated to be fifteen million Ahmedabad rupees in
circulation. By 1879 these had almost disappeared.
Letter
from the Acting Collector of Ahmedabad to Government dated
The
intrinsic value of the
This
is sent to the Accountant General on
Letter
from Accountant General to Government dated
Replies
to the proposal to receive
Letter
from Government to the Collector of Ahmedabad, dated
The
Collector is instructed to receive the revenue in Ahmedabad rupees.
Letter
from the Collector of Ahmedabad to Government, dated
In
acknowledging the receipt of your circular dated the 13th instant, I
do myself the honor to inform you that there is no other coin current in this
collectorate except the Ahmedabad sicca rupees which are always received in
revenue payments and struck at the Government at this place.
Letter
from the Collector of Ahmedabad to Government, dated
In
virtue of the proclamation issued by Government under date the 11th
September declaring the Bombay rupees receivable in payment of the revenues
throughout the districts subordinate to this Presidency, the sum of twenty
eight thousand nine hundred and ninety eight rupees has been received in this
collectorate at 106 Rs, 2 qr, 84 reas per 100 Bombay rupees, the intrinsic
value set forth in the Assay Master’s report of the 13th May 1823,
and as so large a sum has laid unavailable for nearly these last eleven months,
and cannot be disposed of without subjecting Government to a considerable loss,
the rate between Bombay and Ahmedabad rupees being as low as 2½ per cent, I
should beg to recommend their being recoined at the mint at this station, which
would only occasion a loss of three per cent for coinage. I therefore beg to
request you will be so kind as to furnish me with the instructions of
Government regarding their disposal.
Letter
to the Mint Committee from Government, dated
I
am directed by the Honorable the Governor in Council to transmit for your
report the accompanying copy of a letter from the Collector of Ahmedabad dated
the 16th instant regarding the recoinage of a quantity of
Letter
from the Mint Committee to Government, dated
We
have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 29th
ultimo calling for our report on a proposal by the Collector at Ahmedabad for
the recoinage of a quantity of
In
reply we beg leave to state that by the assay table of the 13th May
1823, which the collector quotes, the rate of exchange should have been,
Ahmedabad siccas 107 Rs, 0 qrs, 76 reas per 100 Bombay rupees, but by the table
of 21st August 1826 by which, as the more recent, the Collector
ought to have been guided, the rate is Ahmedabad siccas 107, 1, 58 per 100 Bombay
rupees.
With
regard to the disposal of the balance of Bombay rupees that have accumulated in
his treasury, the Collector, when he found that he could not reissue them at
the par of intrinsic value, ought to have consigned them to the Presidency,
which might have been effected at a very trifling charge. It is now too late in
the season to make the consignment, but we would recommend that he be
instructed to do so immediately after the monsoon.
Letter
from Government to the Collector at Ahmedabad, dated
The
gist of the comments by the Mint Committee was conveyed to him.
Report
on the establishments throughout the
Ahmedabad
had an establishment of 11 natives on
Letter
from the Principal Collector of Ahmedabad to Government, dated
He stated
that no new copper coins had been delivered.
24th October 1832. Bombay Consultations, 24th
October 1832. IOR P/411/51.
Letter
from the Principal Collector at Ahmedabad from Government, dated 3rd
February 1832.
He
discussed the existing pice and enclosed a proposed proclamation for the new
quarter annas as follows:
The Right
Honorable the Governor in Council is pleased to give notice that the old pice
called Ahmedabad being genuine coin and not counterfeits shall continue until
further orders to be current throughout the several Purgannahs comprizing the
Ahmedabad collectorate and will at all times be exchangeable for the new copper
currency to the extent of the supply in the revenue treasuries of the district
and Sudder station at the rate noticed below.
Sixty new
quarter anna pice for 68 Ahmedabad pice.
Foster W., (1906). The English Factories in
India 1618-1621. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
On
February 10th 1618 John Browne at Ahmadabad wrote to the Company
about the problem of getting ryalls and silver ingots minted by the local mint
master.