East India Company, coins from all of its three Presidencies!

Discussion in 'World Coins' started by JayAg47, Jan 22, 2021.

  1. JayAg47

    JayAg47 Well-Known Member

    Here is a coin from all three of EIC's presidencies in India, after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, India came under the direct rule of the Britsh, and Victoria became their first empress!
    From left to right, 1835 Half Anna minted in Bombay (new name is Mumbai), 1802 Double Fanam from Madras (Chennai), and 1819 one Rupee from Calcutta (Kolkata), from Bombay, Madras, and Bengal presidencies respectively. Interestingly the last two coins are also called the ‘proclamation’ coins, some of the coins from around the world that Australia used in the early 19th century!
    Obv.jpg
    Rev.png
    india3,.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2021
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  3. Coinsandmedals

    Coinsandmedals Well-Known Member

    I like how you have an example from each of the three. This is a goal of mine. I mainly pursue the EIC coinage struck at the Soho Mint, and I have yet to add a Bengal piece to my collection. Here are the two that I have, with a third on the way to complete my collection of Madras 10 Cash pieces!

    1804 (AH1219) India Pice Bombay Presidency Ex James Watt Jr. PF-67 BN 4494270004.jpg 1808 India 10 Cash Madras Presidency 4.7g Ex James Watt Jr..jpg
     
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  4. willieboyd2

    willieboyd2 First Class Poster

    Nice coins!

    I became interested in Islamic coins around the beginning of 2020 and grew more interested as the year went by.

    Later I also became interested in the British East India Company and read Brian Gardner's The East India Company: A History (1972).

    I have a few coins from the Company minted in the names of various Mughal rulers.

    The "KM" numbers refer to the Standard Catalog of World Coins by Chester Krause.

    [​IMG]
    Bombay Presidency Rupee, Shah Alam II, Surat, AH 1215 (AD 1801), Regnal Year 46
    Silver, 28 mm, 11.64 gm, KM-224

    Obverse in Persian Arabic:
    Shah Alam, Emperor and fighter for Islam, Auspicious coin, 1215
    Reverse in Persian Arabic:
    Struck at Surat in the year 46 of his reign associated with tranquil prosperity

    Notes:
    These coins were struck at the Bombay mint by the company from 1832 to 1835 under the name of the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II (Life: AD 1728-1806 Reign: AD 1760-1806)
    This coin has the regnal year 46 which is around AD 1804.
    The company issued these coins after the death of Shah Alam.

    [​IMG]
    Bengal Presidency Rupee, Shah Alam II, Farrukhabad, No date, Regnal Year 45
    Silver, 26 mm, 11.55 gm, KM-77

    Obverse in Persian Arabic:
    Shah Alam, Emperor, in the shadow of Allah's divine favor, Defender of the Religion of Muhammad, Struck this coin over seven regions

    Reverse in Persian Arabic:
    Struck at Farrukhaad in the year 45 of his reign associated with tranquil prosperity

    Notes:
    These coins were struck at the Calcutta mint by the company from 1833 to 1835 under the name of the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II (Life: AD 1728-1806 Reign: AD 1760-1806).
    This coin has the regnal year 45 which is around AD 1803.
    The company issued these coins after the death of Shah Alam.

    [​IMG]
    Madras Presidency Half Rupee, Alamgir II, Arcat, AH 1172 (AD 1759), Regnal Year 6
    Silver, 21 mm, 5:75 gm, KM-414

    Obverse in Persian Arabic:
    Aziz-ud-din Muhammad Alamgir, Emperor and fighter for Islam, Auspicious coin, 1172
    Reverse in Persian Arabic:
    Struck at Arcat in the year 6 of his reign associated with tranquil prosperity

    Notes:
    These coins were struck at the Madras mint by the company from 1832 to 1835 under the name of the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II (Life: AD 1699-1759 Reign: AD 1754-1759).
    This coin has the regnal year 6 which is around AD 1760.
    The company issued these coins after the death of Alamgir II.

    :)
     
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  5. tenbobbit

    tenbobbit Well-Known Member

    Not an area i collect, but i do have what i consider an interesting little thing to show.

    From what i have been told, it is a local imitation from Tanjore & issued by the Marathas.
    I don't have a date for it though.

    Weight 1.64g, Size 9mm

    Obverse ? GCE in circle ( each letter in own segment )
    Reverse ? local text ?

    IMG_5667.JPG IMG_5668.JPG IMG_5669.JPG
     
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  6. JayAg47

    JayAg47 Well-Known Member

    Although I don't have the same coin as yours, I do have the actual coin issued by Tanjore Marathas, featuring the Hindu gods Ram, Sita and Hanuman, and the kings standing on the reverse. The dimensions are similar too.
    Your coin looks similar to the one in this sale https://bsjauctions.com/BSJO5-lot-1...ype=&sort_by=lot_number&view=lot_detail&year=
    tm.jpg tmr.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2021
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  7. tenbobbit

    tenbobbit Well-Known Member

    Cool coin Jay, they crammed a lot of detail on these small punches :cool:

    Thanks for the link, i have seen a couple of others & they too weighed in at 3.27/8/9
    which is double of mine.
    Not sure if that means mine is a half of the others or that different weight standards were used in different areas along with the local text on the Reverse.
    Hopefully future studies will shed more light.

    I have found quite a few Indian coins in group lots over the years, they popped up fairly often.
    Most of them i gave away but i kept hold of a few including the above, an Ujjain & a Nawabs of Arcot coin showing a Peacock standing on a Cobra.

    I will dig them out for you.
     
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  8. JayAg47

    JayAg47 Well-Known Member

  9. JayAg47

    JayAg47 Well-Known Member

  10. JayAg47

    JayAg47 Well-Known Member

    Nice, I collect coins from south India, especially from Tamil region, so it's always great to see them!
     
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