Bengal Rupee

East India Company Bengal Rupee aEF KM99

• ND Yr 19 1793-1818 AR Rupee
• Edge grained right
• KM99.1 Calcutta Mint
• 2 Shroff mark applied by sarraf (money changer) or banker

It’s taken a bit of digging to understand the East India Company’s (EIC) role in manufacturing this frozen date rupee in the name of Shah Alam II. Krause Publications report the mintage of Mughal rupees with imperial authority from 1777. The coin in question – frozen date 19 – is dated 1793 to 1818 by Numista. 1793 is the year of annexation by the EIC of Bengal, according to Wikipedia. KM#99 can be differentiated from KM#98 by the Persian numerals that are missing on KM#99.

Numista has a useful guide to identifying the mints for KM#99.1 through 99.4, as per below. Click on the image to read more at Numista. The lack of dot in any clusters identifies this coin as Calcutta Mint. I’ll write a blog once more information is collected.

If you want to know more about early Sydney Colonial Proclamation Coinage, click on the following link: https://www.sterlingcurrency.com.au/blog/news-research/proclamation-and-colonial-coins/what-is-a-proclamation-coin/

Other dates from the EIC are available. Click on the link below for this 1830 mintage.