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12 Annas Calcutta; Hundi promissory note
| Issuer | Private merchant / indigenous banker (Shroff) |
|---|---|
| Year | |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Reverse bears the same embossed Stamp Office Calcutta seal at upper centre, with the principal hundi text showing through from the obverse as a ghost underprint. Multiple diagonal and horizontal manuscript endorsements in Devanagari script are applied in darker ink across the face, indicating successive transfers of obligation, with a notation "A.S. 4" at lower right. |
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| Protection description | Embossed dry seal of the Stamp Office, Calcutta, with circular guilloche surround and denomination inscription, applied as fiscal duty validation |
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| Comments |
Hundis occupy a category entirely separate from state-issued currency — they are instruments of private credit, negotiable between merchants and shroffs across the subcontinental trading network long before any colonial banking infrastructure existed. A Calcutta hundi denominated in annas rather than rupees suggests a small-value commercial transaction, possibly a fractional settlement between traders in the bazaar economy rather than a long-distance remittance instrument, which typically ran to much larger sums.
The embossed stamp is the operative authentication here — not a printed security feature but a physical impression applied at the point of execution, its integrity tied entirely to the issuing shroff's personal seal and reputation within the local credit web.