Madras
Mint – Early Coinages – Copper. Single and Half Pice –
1803 to 1807
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There seems to be no mention in Pridmore’s
text about a resumption of copper coinage in years subsequent to Mysore domination. He
lists a few coins dated 1803 and 1807 under the denominational terms ‘Paisa’
and ‘Half Paisa’, but these are markedly different in their execution and
weight structure from anything that was known to have circulated in Malabar
during the pre-Mysore occupation years. Instead, they exhibit similarities with
issues of the Salem
mint, which was located upland from Malabar and is known to have been
productive under the Madras Presidency during the 1790s. (An excellent paper
publishing these issues was read by the late Ken Wiggins on 12 June 1999, at the ONS study day
organised at the Department of Coins and Medals, Fitzwilliam Museum,
Cambridge. It
was published earlier as ‘Two Unsuccessful Mints of the East India Company’ in
The Numismatic Circular, Volume 88, No.10, pp. 349-350.). However, this mint
was closed before 1803, and these small coins could not have been issued from
there. Perhaps they were issued from Madras
although this must remain a matter for speculation at the moment.
Pridmore states that he had not seen
examples of the half pice with the first numeral 1 showing, and concluded that
the dies were prepared without this numeral. Examples showing the full date
have now been discovered [1].