In February 1837, John Curnin,
the Deputy Assay Master at Calcutta, who had just returned from England, wrote
a letter to the Governor General in which he proposed, inter alia, that a new silver coin valued at two and a half rupees
should be issued1. Having first dealt with the gold coinage, which
will not be discussed here, Curnin suggested that the
duty charged in coining silver should be reduced to 1 percent. He then went on[1]:
To keep the coin at
present in circulation distinct from that to be coined at 1 per cent duty it
would, I conceive, be merely necessary to coin these into two-and-one-half
rupee pieces to be called “Company’s Crowns”, which from the low rate of duty
on them would in time circulate as dollars now do all over the world, and would
in the colonial possessions of Great Britain, circulate for five shillings.
But whether it shall be
the pleasure of the Government or otherwise to reduce the duty on the coinage
of silver, I beg respectfully to state that I think it nevertheless in the
highest degree expedient that crown pieces should be struck in this mint, for
as the loss incurred by the wear of the coins in circulation, so long as that
loss is within the regulations, must devolve on Government, it is clear that
the coin least liable to wear is that which, as far as circumstances will
permit, should be put into circulation.
He then went on to show that the wear on crowns in Britain
was less than that on lower denomination coins.
James Prinsep, the Assay Master and also secretary of the
Mint Committee attached a highly critical note to this suggestion[2]:
…Mr Curnin
further proposes to coin 2½ rupee pieces (or Company’s Crowns) and finally to
make them the standard unit, in lieu of the universally understood rupee which
should henceforth only be receivable for fractions. Being relatively of the
same value I am not aware of any object aimed at in the proposed change except
the diminution of wear on individual pieces. The argument might then be
extended and a hundred or a thousand rupee piece be made the unit, but as the
great mass of payments would still involve the employment of the fractional pieces,
these pieces must circulate and wear as now, and their wear must fall upon
their issuers as now, so that the gain or saving would be trifling.
Prinsep then questioned Curnin’s
interpretation of the data about the wear on the British silver coins and goes
on to say:
It was always intended
however to coin double rupee pieces which, for large payments – for exportation
etc – offer many facilities, but the community at
large is just now more eager for small pieces, 8 and 4 annas, and until this
urgent demand is satisfied there is no possibility of issuing the larger coin
for which the dies have still to be cut.
If the 2½ rupee piece on
one hand presents a convenience in regard to the pound sterling in the colonies
to which our Indian coin may reach, the two rupee, from its near approximation
to the value of the Spanish dollar would have a wide or wider range of
introduction, in the Straits etc, but it could not in
either case be expected to supplant the dollar, which is nothing more than the
produce of the South American mines flowing to the different ports and markets
of the world and first put into a convenient form to be available in transit.
Wisely do the Americans imitate the Spaniards in maintaining the integrity of
this universal coin, and the world at large should give them due praise for
having even hanged an Assay Master a few years ago who began to play tricks
with it.
This last sentence, of course, is Prinsep’s little joke,
since he was the Assay Master at Calcutta. As can be seen, the possibility of
issuing a double rupee coin was raised, and here Prinsep was following the Act
(XVII of 1835) which had authorised the new uniform coinage of British India[3]:
Be it enacted that the
undermentioned silver coins only shall henceforth be issued from the mints
within the territories of the East India Company.
A rupee to be denominated
The Company’s Rupee of the weight of 180 grains troy and of the following
standards viz.
1 1/12 or 165 grains of
pure silver, 1/12 or 15 grains of alloy
A half rupee of
proportionate weight, and of the same standard
A quarter rupee of ditto
A double rupee of ditto
These coins shall bear on
the obverse the head and name of the reigning sovereign of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland and on the reverse the designation of the coin in
English and Persian and the words ‘East India Company’ in English, with such
other embellishments as shall from time to time be approved and ordered by the
Governor General in Council.
The Mint Committee supported Prinsep in the matter of the
two and a half rupee coin[4]:
…The arguments in favour
and against these propositions will be found in Mr Curnin’s
address and our secretary’s note thereon respectively and we refrain from
occupying Your Lordship’s time by any further observations as we concur in
thinking that the objections that have been brought forward exceed the proposed
advantages.
Neither
the double rupee nor the ‘Company’s Crown’ were ever issued for circulation,
but both were reconsidered during the reign of George VI and patterns were
prepared at that time for a proposed two and a half rupee, or dollar, coin[5].
[1]
Bengal Consultations. IOR P/162/88
February 1837, No 22.
Letter from John Curnin
(Deputy Assay Master) to James Prinsep (Assay Master), dated 16th
February 1837.
To keep the coin at present in
circulation distinct from that to be coined at 1 per cent duty it would, I
conceive, be merely necessary to coin these into two-and-one-half rupee pieces
to be called “Company’s Crowns”, which from the low rate of duty on them would
in time circulate as dollars now do all over the world, and would in the
colonial possessions of Great Britain, circulate for five shillings.
But whether it shall be the pleasure of
the Government or otherwise to reduce the duty on the coinage of silver, I beg
respectfully to state that I think it nevertheless in the highest degree
expedient that crown pieces should be struck in this mint, for as the loss
incurred by the wear of the coins in circulation, so long as that loss is
within the regulations, must devolve on Government, it is clear that the coin
least liable to wear is that which, as far as circumstances will permit, should
be put into circulation.
He then went on to show that the wear on
crowns in Britain was less than that on lower denomination coins.
[2]
Bengal Consultations. IOR P/162/88
February 1837, No 23
Note to Mr Curnin’s
letter from James Prinsep, dated 26th February 1827 (error for
1837).
…Mr Curnin
further proposes to coin 2½ rupee pieces (or Company’s Crowns) and finally to
make them the standard unit, in lieu of the universally understood rupee which
should henceforth only be receivable for fractions. Being relatively of the
same value I am not aware of any object aimed at in the proposed change except
the diminution of wear on individual pieces. The argument might then be
extended and a hundred or a thousand rupee piece be made the unit, but as the
great mass of payments would still involve the employment of the fractional pieces,
these pieces must circulate and wear as now, and their wear must fall upon
their issuers as now, so that the gain or saving would be trifling.
Prinsep then questioned Curnin’s
interpretation of the data about the wear on the British silver coins and goes
on to say:
It was always intended
however to coin double rupee pieces which, for large payments – for exportation
etc – offer many facilities, but the community at
large is just now more eager for small pieces, 8 and 4 annas, and until this
urgent demand is satisfied there is no possibility of issuing the larger coin
for which the dies have still to be cut.
If the 2½ rupee piece on
one hand presents a convenience in regard to the pound sterling in the colonies
to which our Indian coin may reach, the two rupee, from its near approximation
to the value of the Spanish dollar would have a wide or wider range of
introduction, in the Straits etc, but it could not in
either case be expected to supplant the dollar, which is nothing more than the
produce of the South American mines flowing to the different ports and markets
of the world and first put into a convenient form to be available in transit.
Wisely do the Americans imitate the Spaniards in maintaining the integrity of
this universal coin, and the world at large should give them due praise for
having even hanged an Assay Master a few years ago who began to play tricks
with it.
[3]
Bengal Consultations. IOR
P/162/86, June 1835, No 40
Resolution passed by the Supreme Council of India on 27th
May 1835
Be it enacted that the
undermentioned silver coins only shall henceforth be issued from the mints
within the territories of the East India Company.
A rupee to be denominated
The Company’s Rupee of the weight of 180 grains troy and of the following
standards viz.
1 1/12 or 165 grains of
pure silver, 1/12 or 15 grains of alloy
A half rupee of
proportionate weight, and of the same standard
A quarter rupee of ditto
A double rupee of ditto
These coins shall bear on
the obverse the head and name of the reigning sovereign of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland and on the reverse the designation of the coin in
English and Persian and the words ‘East India Company’ in English, with such
other embellishments as shall from time to time be approved and ordered by the
Governor General in Council.
[4] Bengal Consultations. IOR P/162/88
February 1837, No 24
Letter from the Calcutta Mint Committee
to Government, undated
…The arguments in favour
and against these propositions will be found in Mr Curnin’s
address and our secretary’s note thereon respectively and we refrain from
occupying Your Lordship’s time by any further observations as we concur in
thinking that the objections that have been brought forward exceed the proposed
advantages.
[5] See Pridmore