Flag of the E.I.C.
The British presence in India started in 1612, twelve years after the granting by Queen Elizabeth the First of a Royal Charter to the 218 Knights and merchants of the City of London who formed a company which received different names but remained in history as "the" East India Company.
Although it made little impression on the Dutch control of the spice trade and could not establish a lasting outpost in the East Indies in the early years, the E.I.C. succeeded beyond measure in finally controlling the whole sub-continent including Ceylon... After the Great Mutiny in 1858, the British Government took direct control of its Indian possessions until they regained their independence in 1947, divided between India and Pakistan.
copper, copperoon, Bombay, 1678
The British struck their first coins in Bombay in European style.
They named their rupee "Anglina", from the name "England", their pice "Copperoon", as they were copper coins, and their bazarucco, a coin continued from a similar tin piece issued by the Portuguese who owned Bombay until 1665, "Tinny". They also decided to call their gold coins "Carolina" from the name of King Charles II but apparently never issued any of these.
silver, rupee, Bombay, 1694-1695
To expand their trade in the region, the British started minting in 1692 this very rare rupee in Mughal style in the name of King William III and Queen Mary, their first coinage bearing a Persian inscription.
The text says, on obverse, "Coin struck during the reign of king William and queen Mary",
and on reverse, "in their 6th regnal year. Coin of the English Company struck at Munbai"
As Aurangzib, the ruling Great Mughal, was offended by this coin, the experiment was stopped in 1695.
ex Ken Wiggins, bought at the Baldwin's Auction Nr 25 held in London in May 2001 (BTW, this coin - which costed me £ 823 - is also the most expensive one in this collection...)
In the name of the Mughal Emperor Nasir Al-Din Muhammad
silver, rupee, Bombay, 1728
As their "European style" coinage was not accepted outside their juridiction, and after having briefly tried to struck rupees in Mughal style bearing the name of the British king (the previous coin), the British obtained in 1717 the right to strike their own rupees in the name of the Mughal Emperor.
tin, pice, Bombay
Periodically, the British - like the Portuguese - used tin for their coinage in Bombay when they met difficulties to supply small money. The first were used between 1672 and 1677 and a second one was used again in 1716 - 1724. The third issue started in 1741 (the illustrated coin) due to the local scarcity of copper. A fourth issue of tin coinage happened in 1754-1757, while the fifth and last one happened in 1771.
The tin issues were declared uncurrent by the Bombay authorities from 1st December 1773.
All these coins were produced by casting.
In the name of the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II
silver, rupee, Madras (struck in Arcot from 1759 to 1806 with frozen regnal year 6)
silver double fanam and fanam, Madras, ND
(respectively third issue (1.80 g.), 1764-1807, and second issue (1,03 g.), 1690-1763 AD)
The two interlinked C's are the monogram of King Charles II and Queen Catherine who ruled England between 1630 and 1685, because the design of these coins was fixed during their reign. In fact, the first coins of this type were only issued in 1689 and the design was maintained until 1807...
copper half dudu, ND (1695-1794), Madras
(for use in Benkulen - nowadays Bengkulu -, a port on the south-west coast of Sumatra, aka Fort Marlborough)
The three letters "GCE" on the obverse stand for "(The) G(overnor and" C(ompany of Merchants of London trading to the) E(ast Indies)", the official full name of the Company at its creation. This logo or "balemark" remained used on some coins struck in Madras long after the deed of this company in 1702...
United East India Company
copper, 1 pice, Bombay, 1773
Madras, between 1740 and 1807,
gold, pagoda
Madras,1794
bronze, 1/48 rupee
An extraordinary coin for the time, one of the very first of such quality! It was struck in Birmingham, by Matthew Boulton who can rightly be considered as "the father of modern coinage". In 1786, he design steam-driven coin-stamping machines, at the time when counterfeiting had reached levels that worried the government enough to think about ordering more sophisticated coinage. Boulton's machines could strike up to 120 coins a minute, depending on design complexity, and by 1792 he signed his first contract with the East India Company. These coins, with thick rims, incused legends, lettered edge and low die relief, were far superior to any coin seen at that time. They were issued five years before the British Mint, reluctant and more conservative, finally asked Boulton to make new two pence, penny, halfpenny and farthing coins for the UK.
silver rupee, struck in Banaras for the East India Company, in the name of the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam, this one between 1787/1789
(the actual AH date is out of flan but the actual regnal year "30" is clearly visible below the frozen year 17, the year when the Company acquired control on the disrict)
Tellicherry, AD 1799 - AH 1214,
silver, 1/5 rupee
The British established their first post on the Malabar coast in Tellicherry in 1683
Tellicherry, 1805,
silver, 1/5 rupee
Ceylon, 1802
bronze, 1/192 rupee
Ceylon, 1802
bronze, 1/48 rupee
As a consequence of the Napoleonic wars and the rupture between Great Britain and Holland in 1795, a British expedition annexed the Dutch settlements in Ceylon to the Presidency of Madras in 1796 and the whole island was under British sovereignty by 1815. Like the previous one, these two very "modern" coins were struck in UK at the Soho Mint, Birmingham, on the steam machines of Matthew Boulton.
Ceylon, 1808
bronze, 48 stuiver
struck in Ceylon...
Ceylon, 1803
bronze, 1/24 rupee
Ceylon, 1814
bronze, 1/48 rupee
struck in Ceylon
In the name of the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II
Madras, 1807 (mintname: Arkot)
silver double rupee (diameter: 38 mm; weight: 23.70 gr)
overstruck on a Spanish Colonial coin of 8 reales
ex Ken Wiggins, bought at the Baldwin's Auction Nr 25 held in London in May 2001
The text says, on obverse, "1172. The auspicious coin of the victorious emperor chosen of the faith of Muhammad, Alamgir" and on reverse, "in the 6th year of his reign of tranquil prosperity, struck at Arkot"
Madras, 1808
gold, pagoda
Madras, 1808
silver half pagoda (diameter: 36 mm; weight: 21.37 gr)
overstruck on a piece of silver cut out of a Spanish Colonial 8 reales minted in Mexico (you can distinctly see traces of the Latin legend interfering with the legends on both sides of the coin). This coin is slightly smaller and lighter than the Double Rupee struck in 1807 (cfr supra)
English East India Company,
gold, mohur or gold rupee (= 15 silver rupees), 1819
In English on the obverse: "ENGLISH EAST INDIA COMPANY";
in Persian on the reverse: "Ashrafi Kampani Ankrez Bahadur"
(Ashrafi (= mohur) of the Honourable English Company)
East India Company, King William IIII,
silver, rupee, 1835
All India, Victoria Queen
silver, rupee, 1862
After the Great Indian Mutiny in 1857, the East India Company territories were placed under direct control of the British Crown. The Company ceased to exist as a legal entity in 1873.
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