![]() Early English settlements in India had three broad grouping: those in Western India which comprised of Bombay & Surat, those in South India comprising of Madras and those in the Eastern Province of Bengal which was mainly Calcutta. Early English coins accordingly developed along three broad strands in consonance with the local acceptability of the coins for the purposes of trade. The coins of Bengal were developed along the Mughal pattern; those of Madras were struck along South Indian lines both in design and metrology (Pagoda) as well as along Mughal designs. The English coins of Western India developed along Mughal as well as English patterns. It was only in 1717 AD that the English obtained permission from the Emperor Farrukhsiyar to coin Mughal money at the Bombay mint. English pattern coins were struck at the Bombay Mint. The gold coins were termed Carolina, from the name of King Charles II but apparently never issued any of these, the silver coins Anglina, the copper coins Cupperoon and tin coins Tinny. By the early 1830, the English had become the dominant power in India. The rise of one dominant power after over a hundred years of turmoil enabled the enactment of the Coinage Act of 1835 and for uniform coinage to be issued. 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. ![]() Matthew Boulton who can rightly be considered as "the father of modern coinage" struck an extraordinary bronze coin in Birmingham. 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. Newly designed coins with the effigy of William IV on the obverse and the value on the reverse in English and Persian, were issued in 1835. The coins issued after 1840 bore the portrait of Queen Victoria. The first coinage under the crown was issued in 1862 and in 1877 Queen Victoria assumed the title the Empress of India. ![]() |
More ArticlesCoins during British India (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||
|
Coins during British India