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1 Cash Bencoolen
| Issuer | East India Company |
|---|---|
| Year | 1693-1700 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Copper |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents an Arabic inscription within a similarly divided rectangular frame, the field bisected horizontally by a raised bar creating two registers. The upper register is largely plain, while the lower register carries the Arabic legend 'انگریز کمپنی' (meaning 'English Company'), struck in a bold but somewhat irregular manner consistent with hammered production. The flan edges are uneven and show typical casting irregularities, with the copper surface displaying green and brown patination indicative of considerable age and burial or circulation wear. |
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| Mint | Log in to see details |
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| Additional information |
The Bencoolen factory — established on Sumatra's west coast in 1685 after the English were expelled from Bantam by the Dutch — required local small change almost immediately, and London was in no position to supply it promptly. These cash pieces were struck for pepper-trade transactions at a remote, disease-ridden outpost that killed staff at such rates the Company struggled to keep it staffed at all. Bencoolen remained an English liability for nearly 140 years before being ceded to the Dutch under the 1824 Anglo-Dutch Treaty.