The Coins Of The English East India Company

Together With A Catalogue Of The Coins In The Madras Museum.

Winner of the IAPN Book Prize 2018 at the General Assembly in Prague This catalogue presents a list of all coins known to have been issued by the East India Company for use in their Presidencies of Bengal, Bombay and Madras. Each of the main sections covers the coins of one Presidency with chapters on the coins issued from the main mint in the area - Calcutta, Bombay or Madras - as well as chapters on coins issued from local and transitional mints, most of which were not covered in Major Pridmore's seminal work on the subject.

A brand new book by Peter Thompson looking at the history of the Honourable East India Company and its coinage.This wonderful full colour book tells the story of the coins of the East India Company within the story of the company itself.The East India Company Coins are eagerly sought after by collectors but until now there has been no definitive work on the subject - Peter Thompson has set that straight and this beautifully produced labour of love is the result.

In existence for 258 years, the English East India Company ran a complex, highly integrated global trading network. It supplied the tea for the Boston Tea Party, the cotton textiles used to purchase slaves in Africa, and the opium for China’s nineteenth-century addiction. In India it expanded from a few small coastal settlements to govern territories that far exceeded the British Isles in extent and population. It minted coins in its name, established law courts and prisons, and prosecuted wars with one of the world’s largest armies. Over time, the Company developed a pronounced and aggressive colonialism that laid the foundation for Britain’s Eastern empire. A study of the Company, therefore, is a study of the rise of the modern world. In clear, engaging prose, Ian Barrow sets the rise and fall of the Company into political, economic, and cultural contexts and explains how and why the Company was transformed from a maritime trading entity into a territorial colonial state. Excerpts from eighteen primary documents illustrate the main themes and ideas discussed in the text. Maps, illustrations, a glossary, and a chronology are also included.

This catalogue presents a list of all coins known to have been issued by the East India Company for use in their Presidencies of Bengal, Bombay and Madras. Each of the main sections covers the coins of one Presidency with chapters on the coins issued from the main mint in the area - Calcutta, Bombay or Madras - as well as chapters on coins issued from local and transitional mints, most of which were not covered in Major Pridmore's seminal work on the subject.