A study on copper cashes with deities of Madras Presidency By Austin Jose H The English East India Company officially

started minting coins in 1671 AD in Bombay, after the Court of Directors instruction to their servants at Bombay to establish a mint1(*). This mint was later approved by the crown 1(*).
* The coinage of money on its own account by the company, appears to have commenced at Bombay, which island was held in more independent first, than another landed processionsaccordingly in 1671 the court of directors gave instructions to their servants at Bombay to establish a mint upon the island, and a few years afterwards the measure was sanctioned by the crown

Although Bombay was the first Presidency to get official mint status (**), it is believed that Madras presidency unofficially minted coins of the Vijayanagar type, and also other coins before 1671 AD at Fort St.George1 .The official issue of Mogul style rupees started only after permission had been obtained from the Mogul Emperor, Aurangzeb in 1692 AD5. The mint at Fort St. George began producing pice and rupees after the President and Council at Fort St. George solicited permission of the King of Golconda in 1777 ADs1(**).
** ..Although not formally authorized to coins money, The Madras presidency assumed the privilege prior to its legalization by charter at Bombay, for in the same year in which the charter was granted, or 1777, the president and council at Fort St. George, solicited permission of the king of Golconda to coins rupees and Pice, the coinage of pagodas have been found profitable..

Local mints of the English East India Company, Apart from the principal mints, local or subordinate mints were operated by the company in their forts2 (***).

*** Under Bombay there is one principal mint at the presidency, and several subordinate mints; but as such mints are not wholly under European superintendence, the coin issued from the former will alone be noticed.

The local mints had legal permission to strike coins, as we know from a Charter of James II, issued on 12 th April 1686 AD.1(!*). The charter gives full authority and license to the Company to mint coins in its forts.
!* .As in the charter of the 2d of James, 12th of April 1686, full power, license and authority was given to the company to coin in their forts, any species of money usually coined by the princes of those countries (India) only.

These mints were opened to the public, and any person bringing bullion could get coins minted for a minimal commission2. The company made huge profits from minting copper coins2 (! **).
!** .Copper money is coined at the mint at three presidencies, for the east India Company only. These mints are open to the public, and any person carrying bullion thither may have it coined at a charge of two per cent on the standard value of such billion, or coin, together with the charge of refining bullion or coin below the standard weights and fineness

The coins. The copper coins minted locally from the Companys forts are found in abundance in south Tamilnadu. Dr. Mitchiner discusses one such coin bearing the date 1803 on the obverse and a Bale Mark on the reverse, and has reported seeing these coins in good numbers in the Madurai area, but doubts that this was an authorized Company issue4. Dr. Mitchiner bases this conclusion on the absence of these issues from Pridmore (1975)4. Dr. Shankaranarayan in his note in the Madras Coin Society Journal on Small change coins of East India Company, lists a number of local copper issues of the Company, which are found in the Ambasamudram region of Thirunelveli District6.

Mr. Seetharaman published one such coin in the Madras Coin Societys Journal under the title English East India Companys copper cash. (Fig 1) He mentions the find spot as Thirunelveli and attributes this to an 18th century issue of East India Company7 .A coin of similar description is referred to asMadoppallam Cash by Pridmore, and dates it to 1701 AD.3. The absence of any deitys image or eye copy of this coin makes it impossible to compare with the one mentioned by Seetharaman. But the reverse which is provided with an eye copy is very similar to the reverse of the coin mentioned by Seetharaman
# New companys Bale mark

The new English East India Company Founded in 1698 also used a balemark. The form depicted on the copper issue attributed to their mint at madopallam, shows a heart shape surmounted by a large numeral 4.within the heart are the initial letters of The E[nglish] E[ast] I[ndia] C[ompany].

After the amalgamation of the two companies in 1702 a new form of Balemark came into general use. This was an adaptation of the English Companys heart forms variously divided containing the letters EIC or most commonly the [V]inted [E]ast [I]ndia [C]ompany .This is the accepted interpretation but it does not agree with the name in the deed of union of 1702.That document stated that henceforth the name would be The [v]nited [c]ompany of merchants trading to the [e]ast [I]ndies, and that form was used in the legislative of 1708.This remained the official title until the act of 1833 abolishing its trading functions, renamed in the east India company Based upon the deed of 1702 or the act of 1708, the correct interpretations Of the initials should therefore be The united company of merchants trading to the East Indies. However when the act of 1833 renamed it the East India Company, this was nominal, for the company had always been known and referred to under the title anyway.

Obverse:Standing deity

Reverse:EEIC(English East India Company) legend in clockwise direction inside Bale mark Weight Diameter Find spot Reported Seetharaman Fig: 1 : 2.00 grams : 12 mm : Thirunelveli by : Mr.

East India company copper cashes with deities:. Copper coins with deities on the obverse and the Companys traditional bale mark on the reverse are very specifically found only in the Thirunelveli and Ambasumadrum region of south Tamilnadu, and in no other region of the Madras Presidency. These coins are often found along with Nayak coins, which were prevalent in this region from the 17th to 19th centurys .The similarity in typology of deity representation with that on Nayak coins of Thirunelveli, along with the traditional EEIC bale mark representation confirms them to be local issues of East India Company. Considering the charter of King James, referred to above, these coins could well have been minted in the Fort of Thiruneleveli. The presence of an old Ganesha temple with the name Akka salai vinayakar koil in Ambasamudram persuades Dr. Shankaranarayan to infer that this could be a local issue from Ambasamudram, as Akka salai means a coin mint in Tamil.

Based on the large number of coins with deities found in this region, the possibility of a local mint in Ambasamudram cannot be ruled out. The coins listed below are the commonest types and varieties of deity coins found in this region, and all these coins could have been minted locally in the Ambasamudram mint. Obverse:Deity standing Inside an arch

Reverse:EEIC(English East Company) legend anticlockwise direction Bale mark Weight : 2.04 grams Diameter : 12 mm Find spot Ambasamudram Fig: 2

India in inside

Obverse:Seated Deity

Reverse:V.E.I.C ([V]nited [C]ompany of merchants trading to the [E]ast [I]ndies) in separated divisions of the Bale mark

Weight : 2.01 grams Diameter : 12 mm Find spot Ambasamudram Fig: 3

Obverse:Seated Deity

Reverse:V.E.I.C ([V]nited [C]ompany of merchants trading to the [E]ast [I]ndies) in separated divisions of the Bale mark Weight : 0.65 grams Diameter : 12 mm Find spot Ambasamudram Fig: 4

Obverse:Seated Deity

Reverse:V.E.I.C ([V]nited [C]ompany of merchants trading to the [E]ast [I]ndies) in separate divisions of the Bale mark Weight : 0.76 grams Diameter : 12 mm Find spot : Ambasamudram Reported by : Dr. Shankaranarayan Fig: 5 Acknowledgements:I wish to thank Mr. Seetharaman (Tanjore), Mr. Raman Sankaran (Chennai), Dr. Shankaranarayan (Ambasamudram), Mr. Murali Thantry (Bangalore) and Mr.Hemanth Chopra, numismatists who shared with me their valuable knowledge and thoughts, which greatly helped shape this paper. References:1. Annals of the Coinage of Great Britain and its Dependencies By Rev. Rogers Ruding, printed for John Hearne, 1840. Page no: 418 2. An Analysis of the Constitution of East India company and of the Laws passed by the parliament for the government of their affairs at home and abroad by Peter Auber ,Harding & co,1826 Page no: 161

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Coins of the British common wealth of nations to the end of the reign of George VI 1952 By Pridmore, Spink 1960, Page no: 280 The coinage and History of southern India Part two Tamilnadu Kerala by Michael Michener, Hawkins publication 1998, Page no: 249 2008 Standard catalogue on Indian Coins Krause Publications page no:824 Madras coin Society special bulletin volume VII 2000 small change coins of east India company by Dr. Shankaranarayan , page no:85 Madras coin Society Coinex 97 special bulletin volume IV East India company Copper Coin (Tamil) by Seetharaman, Page no: 36