Coins In Lucknow Mus. Vol 01 [56 MB - IndianCoins.org

36In hi8 ' Voyages to the East Indies ' I. Splinter Stavorninus,Rear Admiral in the service of the States General, says 1 of thecoinage of Bengal, which presidency he visited between the years1768 and 1771 : "The only current coins in Bengal, and thewhole extent of Indostan, are gold and silver rupees. Allforeign gold and silver, whether coined or in bullion, is carriedto the mint, and transformed into rupees, which are stamped withPersian letters instead of any portrait or arms. They decreaseevery year in value, and at the end of nine years the siccarupees are taken at the same rate as Arcot rupees. "When therupees first come from the mint, they are called sicca rupees ofthe first year. Those which are coined at Moorshedabad are thecurrent coin in which the trade of the Company is carried on, andby which all the other rupees in circulation here are reduced. Itis divided into sixteen annas ; its intrinsic value in Dutch moneyis one gilder, four stivers and a half, and it is taken in theCompany's books at twenty-five stivers but in Indian;currency atthirty-one stivers and a half, for which it is current at Hougly.It is the money of account, according to which the value ofthe other rupeesis calculated at a discount or agio, which iscalled batta, of from six to twelve per cent., which undergoescontinual fluctuations, by the management of the money-changers.The Arcot rupees, which are coined by the English at Arcot,and by the French at Pondicherry, go for thirty stivers, yet the lastare reckoned from one to three per " cent, better than the former.The gold rupee, which is called mohur, is worth fifteen silversicca rupees." Halves, fourths, eighths, and sixteenths of rupees are likewisecoined ;the last, as above said, are called annas." Copper coin is not seen in Bengal. For change they make2use of the small sea-shells called cowries, eighty of which makea poni, and sixty or sixty-five ponis, accordiug as there arefew or many cowries in the country, make a rupee. They comefrom the Maldive Islands. The money-changerssituponall thebazars with quantities of them to furnish the lower orders withchange for the purchase of necessaries. One hundred thousandrupees make what is called a lack, and one hundred lacks or tenmillions of rupees a crore."3As regards the coinage current at Surat Stavorninus says " :The coins that are current here are of gold, silver, and copper.1Ed. London, 1798, vol. i, p. 460.2Note on cowries from Yule and Burnell, op. cit.1753. " Our Honorable Masters having expressly directed ten tons of cowriesto be laden in each of their ships homeward bound, we ordered the Secretary toprepare a protest against Captain Cooke for refusing to take any on board theAdmiral Vernon." M. Long. 41.1780. " We are informed that a copper coinage is now on the carpet itwill be of the greatest use to the public, and will totally abolish the trade ofcowries, which for a long time has formed so extensive a field for deception andfraud." Hicky' s Bengal Gazette.1803. " I will continue to pay without demur, to the said Government, asmy annual pesknsh or tribute 12,000 kahuns of cowries in three instalments aaspecified herein below." Treaty Engagement by the Rajah of Kitta Keonghur, atributary subordinate to Cuttack, 16th December 1803.3Op cit., vol. iii, p. 8.