Catalog
1 Fanam Negapatnam Mint
| Issuer | Dutch East India Company (VOC) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1675-1700 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A highly degenerate representation of a boar in profile, reduced to an abstract 'lazy J' or hook-shaped device with a cluster of pellets below representing the legs and body of the animal. Above the device appears the abbreviated legend 'O.C.' (for Oostindische Compagnie, the Dutch East India Company), rendered in a crude, worn style typical of these small hammered fanams. The design reflects the progressive stylistic degeneration of the original boar motif through repeated die copying at the Negapatnam mint. |
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| Mintage | ND (1675-1700) - Negapatnam Mint |
| Additional information |
The VOC established its mint at Negapatnam — on the Coromandel Coast of southeastern India — after capturing the port from the Portuguese in 1658. Fanam coinage here was a practical concession to local commerce: the denomination had circulated in South India for centuries, and Dutch merchants quickly learned that insisting on European monetary forms was bad for business. The Negapatnam mint produced fanams in direct competition with local Hindu and Muslim issues, all of them trading on weight and fineness rather than issuing authority.
The mint was lost to the British in 1781 and never recovered by the VOC.