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Coins of British India since 1835 Lalita Mathur The epoch-making reform of British Indian coinage took place in 1835. On the recommendation of James James Prinsep, Prinsep, the father of Indian paleography and numismatics, the weigh ight, size ize and finene nenes ss of coin coins s of all meta metals ls and denominations were standardised in that that year. year. Thus the “mohar” in gold, the rupee in silver and the quarter- anna in copper were all struck in a uniform weight standard. Previously there were in use numerous coins of varying weights, sizes and fineness that were prevalent. A chronological study of minting activities in India from 1835 to 1947, that is, from the days of King William 1V to George V1, shows that during this period the rupee, Indi India’ a’s s stan standa dard rd mone moneta tary ry unit unit,, gain gained ed inte intern rnat atio iona nall popularity, so much so that rupee coins were being struck even in places far away from India, such as German East Africa, Italian Somaliland, Java, Mauritius etc.. WILLIAM IV William IV ascended the throne of England on June 26, 1830 1830.. Thou Though gh he had very very litt little le to do with the the actual actual government of the Indian territories, since the Board of Directors of the East India Company were exercising real power, coins in India were struck in his name under the auspi auspices ces of the East East India India Compan Company. y. It was durin during g his reig re ign n that that Indi Indian an curr curren ency cy saw saw its its most most re rema mark rkab able le reform.
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Coins were minted in three metals gold, silver and copper. copper. The gold gold and silver silver coins coins were milled milled ( machine machine made ), while the copper copper ones were unmilled. unmilled. Coins of all all metals bore the date 1835, though, struck between the years 1835 and 1839. There were different designs for coins of different metals. metals. While While the obverse obverse of both both gold and and silver silver coins coins bore bore the the effi ffigy of the the King, ng, tha that of the the copp coppe er coin coins s depicted the company’s Coat-of-Arms. On the other hand, the reverse of the gold coins had the figure of a Lion, while that of the silver and copper coins coins bore a “laure “laurell wreath” wreath” , The Compa Company’ ny’s s Coat-of Coat-of-Arms consisted of a crossed shield with two supporting Lions on the left and right and a crest lion on the top flanked by two Union Jacks. Jacks. A scroll below the shield had the “Compan “Company’s y’s motto motto written written in Latin. Latin. AUSPIGIO AUSPIGIO REGIS REGIS ET SENA SENATU TUS S ANGL ANGLIE IE ( Ausp Auspic icio ious us Re Reig ign n and and Engl Englis ish h Senate or Council). The reverse of the gold coins bore the figure of the lion, an “appropriate type of sovereignty, “ completely localized by the ever flourishing Palm, an Asiatic, though ancient, ancient, emblem emblem of perpetui perpetuity. ty. The reverse reverse of the the silver silver and copper coins had, in the centre, the value of the respective denominations ons in English and Persian, encircled by a ‘laurel wreath’ above which was inscribed “EAST INDIA COMPANY”.
VICTORIA ( 1819 – 1901)
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Three series of coins were minted in India during her long reign of 64 years. The First Series of Victorian coin (1840 to 1861) were issued under the auspices of the East India Company and followed the pattern of the William IV coinage. The types were – Bust and Lion for gold, Bust and Wreath for silver, Coat-of-Arms and Wreath for copper. The Second Series were struck 1862 to 1876. Irrespective of the metal, they bore the Queen’s “Crowned Bust” with the legend written in two parts – VICTORIA to the left and QUEEN to the right. The name of the East India Company disappeared from the reverse, and instead the name of the issuing country, INDIA. was introduced. The value and dates were written in English only, within newly designed floral wreaths. Two new denominations in gold – two-third and the one-third mohars equivalent to 10 and 5 rupees respectively, were introduced in 1870. Rumour has it that certain microscopic dots were seen on the rupee coins of 1862. It was believed that a master forger had most meticulously minted a few lakh rupees and put these dots as his private marks, each dot denoting each lakh of coins he had counterfeited. The
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actual position was cleared in 1939, when it came to be known that all these 1862 coins had been produced by government mint between 1862 and 1873. The dots were the secret marks of the mints to denote the particular years of minting. Coins struck in 1862 itself did not bear and dots, while those struck in 1863 bore only one dot, those in 1864 had two dots, those in 1865 had three dots, and so on. This curious but secret arrangement evolved from the system of the “Sonat Rupees” (or, rupees of years from which the mints of Indian Princes derived their profits). New rupees were apparently issued at a premium, which diminished annually for a few years and eventually became “Sonats” (or of standard value). From 1874 the practice of putting dots on rupee coin for denoting the actual year of mintage was discontinued. The Third Series of Victoria’s coin started with her assumption of the epithet, EMPRESS, on January 1st 1877. Irrespective of metals, coins of this series were exactly like their Second Series counterparts. The only change was with regard to the epithet, which was now ‘empress’ instead of ‘Queen’. EDWARD VII (1901 – 1910)
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No gold coins were issued during his reign. There were four denomination in silver and three in copper. But a coin in a new metal and of a new denomination was issued in 1907. This was the cupro-nickel one-anna coin with a scalloped edge, composed of 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel. GEORGE V ( 1911 – 1936) George V had two coronations – one in London on June 22, 1911, and again, in December of the same year when he visited India, a Coronation Durbar was organized at Delhi. Coins were struck in the name of George V from 1911 to 1936. A special gold 15 rupee piece was issued only once in 1918 for paying the price of wheat purchased from the Punjab. Interestingly, the thrones used by King George V and Queen Mary at the Delhi Durbar were cast in silver at the Calcutta mint. 96,000 old rupees were melted for the purpose.
All the coins of George V bear his crowned bust on the obverse. Only the reverse designs call for special attention. The floral design of the 15 rupee gold coin was new, while that of the silver coin was adopted from the floral design of 1910 pattern
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rupee of Edward VII. The reverse design of the cupro-nickel coins followed the pattern of the one – anna coin of Edward VII, the respective values in English were enclosed in square scrolls, on the four outer sides of which were also written in Urdu, Hindi, Bengali and Telugu. While the wreaths of the gold and bronze coins were merely ornamental, that of the silver coins represents the interlacing of the three floral emblems of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland and Ireland – The Rose of England, the Thistle of Scotland and the Shamrock of Ireland – all surrounded by the floral emblem of India – the Lotus.
EDWARD VIII No coins were struck in his name because he abdicated before his coronation in 1936. GEORGE VI (1895 – 1952) During the reign of George VI India attained freedom from British rule on 15th August, 1947, after which date British coins were discontinued. During the brief sway of George VI prior to
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Independence several experiments were carried out with coining metals. While no gold coins were issued, silver coins of the denomination of rupee, half-rupee and quarter – rupee bearing the king’s crowned head and floral design were sparingly minted with the date 1938. All these coins had straight milling like their counterparts issued since 1835. Besides English and Urdu, Hindi was also used to express the value of these coins. With the issue of the 1946 – 47 period ultimately came the end of British coinage in India, but its legacy continues, and the government of free India started issuing in 1950 a new series of coins in precisely the same metals and of the same denominations, only with suitable changes in the obverse and reverse designs.
BIBLIOGRAPHY •
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E J Rapson: British Museum Catalogue of Coins, (Reprint) New Delhi, 1975. C J Brown: The Coins of India, London, 1962. J Allan: Catalogue of the Coins of India in the British Museum, London, 1914.
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A Cunningham: Coins Successors in the East.
of
Alexander’s
V A Smith: Catalogue of Coins in the Indian Museum, Vol.I (Reprint) Varanasi, 1972. R B Whitehead: Punjab Museum Catalogue Vol.III K D Bajpai: Indian Numismatic Studies, New Delhi 1976. A N Lahiri: Corpus of Indo-Greek Coins, Calcutta 1965.
JOURNALS •
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
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Journal of Numismatic Society of India.
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Journal of Indian History.
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Numismatic Notes and (Numismatic Society of India)
Monographs
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The Numismatic Chronicle.
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The British Numismatic Journal - 1909, 1913
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WEBSITES •
Jfcampbell.us/india/links.htm
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www.bharatcoins.com/britishindia _coins
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www.rbi.org.in/currency/museum
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www.angelfire.com. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Indian_coins. www.indian-coins.com
British India Coinage Coins of William IV Description
Obverse
Reverse
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Rupee One, Silver
Half Rupee, Silver
Quarter Rupee, Silver
Half Anna, Copper
Quarter Anna, Copper
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Half Pice, Copper
Coins of Queen Victoria (Young Bust) Description
Two Annas, Silver
Quarter Rupee, Silver
Half Rupee, Silver
One Rupee, Silver
Obverse
Reverse
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One Mohur
Coins of Queen Victoria (Mature Bust) Description
One Twelfth Anna, Bronze
Half Pice, Bronze
Quarter Anna, Bronze
Half Anna, Bronze
Two Annas, Silver
Obverse
Reverse
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One Fourth Rupee, Silver
Half Rupee, Silver
One Rupee, Silver
One Mohur
Coins of Queen Victoria (Empress) Description
One Twelfth Anna, Bronze
Obverse
Reverse
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Half Pice, Bronze
Quarter Anna, Bronze
Half Anna, Bronze
Two Annas, Silver
One Fourth Rupee, Silver
Half Rupee, Silver
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One Rupee, Silver
Coins of Edward VII Description
One Twelfth Anna, Bronze
Half Pice, Bronze
One Quarter Anna, Bronze
One Anna, Copper-Nickel
Two Annas, Silver
Obverse
Reverse
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One Fourth Rupee, Silver
Half Rupee, Silver
One Rupee, Silver
Coins of George V Denomination
1/12 Anna (One Pie)
Obverse
Reverse
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1/2 Pice
1/4 Anna (1 Pice)
One Anna
Two Annas
Quarter Rupee
Half Rupee
One Rupee
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Fifteen Rupees
Major Design Change
Two Annas
Four Annas
Eight Annas
Coins of George VI Denomination
1/12 Anna (One Pie)
Obverse
Reverse
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1/2 Pice
1/4 Anna (1 Pice)
Half Anna
One Anna
Two Annas
Quarter Rupee
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Half Rupee
One Rupee, Silver
Major Design Changes
One Pice
One Rupee, Quaternary
One Rupee, Nickel
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