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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 Prinsep, the father of Indian paleography and numismatics, the weight, size and fineness of coins of all metals and denominations were standardised in that 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, Indias standard monetary unit, gained international 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. Though he had very little to do with the 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 auspices of the East India Company. It was during his reign that Indian currency saw its most remarkable reform.

Coins were minted in three metals gold, silver and copper. The gold and silver coins were milled ( machine made ), while the copper ones were unmilled. Coins of all metals bore the date 1835, though, struck between the years 1835 and 1839. There were different designs for coins of different metals. While the obverse of both gold and silver coins bore the effigy of the King, that of the copper coins depicted the companys 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 bore a laurel wreath , The Companys Coat-ofArms 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. A scroll below the shield had the Companys motto written in Latin. AUSPIGIO REGIS ET SENATUS ANGLIE ( Auspicious Reign and English 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, emblem of perpetuity. The reverse of the silver and copper coins had, in the centre, the value of the respective denominations in English and Persian, encircled by a laurel wreath above which was inscribed EAST INDIA COMPANY.

VICTORIA ( 1819 1901)

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 Queens 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

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 Victorias 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)

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

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

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 kings 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 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.

A Cunningham: Coins Successors in the East.

of

Alexanders

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. Journal of Numismatic Society of India. Journal of Indian History. Numismatic Notes and (Numismatic Society of India) The Numismatic Chronicle. The British Numismatic Journal - 1909, 1913 Monographs

WEBSITES Jfcampbell.us/india/links.htm www.bharatcoins.com/britishindia _coins www.rbi.org.in/currency/museum

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 Obverse Reverse

Two Annas, Silver

Quarter Rupee, Silver

Half Rupee, Silver

One Rupee, Silver

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One Mohur

Coins of Queen Victoria (Mature Bust)

Description Obverse Reverse

One Twelfth Anna, Bronze

Half Pice, Bronze

Quarter Anna, Bronze

Half Anna, Bronze

Two Annas, Silver

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One Fourth Rupee, Silver

Half Rupee, Silver

One Rupee, Silver

One Mohur

Coins of Queen Victoria (Empress)

Description Obverse Reverse

One Twelfth Anna, Bronze

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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 Obverse Reverse

One Twelfth Anna, Bronze

Half Pice, Bronze

One Quarter Anna, Bronze

One Anna, Copper-Nickel

Two Annas, Silver

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One Fourth Rupee, Silver

Half Rupee, Silver

One Rupee, Silver

Coins of George V
Denomination Obverse Reverse

1/12 Anna (One Pie)

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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 Obverse Reverse

1/12 Anna (One Pie)

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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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