British India Coins from the Robert and Norma Puddester Collection

Robert and Norma Puddester

The Robert P. and Norma J. Puddester Collections (the Puddester Collection) of coins, medals and tokens of British India, the Independent Empires and Princely States will be sold in a series of Noonan auctions over the next few years. Norma concentrated on the Sikh Empire and Feudatory states, the Maratha Confederacy, several north-western states and Sikh temple tokens while Robert concentrated on the East India Company, the other Princely States, medals and tokens.

ROBERT PUDDESTER

It was in the late 1970s that I decided to specialize in the coins of the East India Company, specifically in the three Indian presidencies. The E.I.C. at its peak had been the greatest company the world had ever seen and from my perspective had the most varied coinage imaginable; multiple languages on its coins, innumerable designs, worthy of much study and within my price range including a multitude of beautiful proofs and patterns as well as currency coins from numerous mints in India and England. A massive cornucopia of coins that were under-collected, undervalued and available.

From that point on I was hooked. At the time I was living in Port of Spain, Trinidad, somewhat isolated from the world coin markets. I found some small dealers, especially in the USA such as Alfred Szego and Maurice Geiger, Paul Davis and Louis Collins, but it was not until I wrote to Spink & Son Ltd on 8 November 1978 and received replies from Mark Rasmussen and Peter Preston-Morley that my E.I.C. collection began to dramatically expand.

Peter sent me three coins in December, two rather cheap and one expensive (£200), a Bombay 1828 lion and palm tree Bombay pattern (Prid. 336: Lot 562) which I still regard as my first 'real' E.I.C. coin and my first coin from Spink – I still have all three. This began a steady stream of coins from Peter who looked after my interests like no-one else that I have ever met in the coin business. After a two-week trip to Africa, I passed through London on 14 March 1980 and met Peter, and sitting right next to him was Daniel Fearon. I also met André de Clermont at this time and along with many new contacts went away with thirty coins from the Peter Snartt collection. In those days Spink was getting one E.I.C. collection after another and I had a good choice of everything that came Spink’s way. The Numismatic Circular had three large selections a year, and there were lots of E.I.C. coins.

In the early 1980s I contacted all the dealers of E.I.C. interest in England; Baldwin’s, Seaby’s, Format and many others. I was also active in the auctions held by Spink and others that featured E.I.C. coins. Fred Pridmore died on 6 August 1980 before I had the pleasure of meeting him and his E.I.C. coins were sold in October 1982, catalogued by Peter Mitchell. By then I had quite a good collection of E.I.C. coins by normal standards, but most were under £250 except for a few patterns and proofs. Unfortunately, I was unable to go to London for the Pridmore sale, but things worked out even better as I had Peter Preston-Morley as my representative. I prepared extensive lists from the catalogue with maximum prices, etc, and discussed the sale extensively on the telephone with Peter. The India section consisted of 357 lots; I bid on 77 and obtained 39 lots consisting of a total of 54 coins. Peter bought many other lots for stock and gave me first chance of them when I had refurbished my finances; I bought a further 22 lots of 41 coins, so all together I got 61 lots from the sale at that time. Since then I purchased other ex-Pridmore coins when they came on the market from time to time. In addition, many lots were very large, such as Pridmore lot 358, which consisted of 24 cash coins. I had 16 of the 24 but when Spink bought this lot for their trays, I was able to select five of the coins I did not have. All together the Pridmore collection was magnificent, Peter’s representation was magnificent, and I was able to add some superb coins to my collection.

In August 1983 I was posted to India. I had been trying to get to India since the mid-1970s but in the true tradition of the foreign service we kept meeting fellow officers who had been posted to New Delhi but had not wanted to go. This was a gold mine for collecting E.I.C. locally-struck currency coinage, the very parts of my collection – and of most western collections in those days – that were weakest. Soon I began to add the Bombay rupees, and sometimes fractions, of Farrukh-Siyar, Shan Jahan II, Muhammad Shah, Ahmad Shah and Alamgir II (it is interesting to note that Pridmore had very few of these coins in his collection). I also found many of the currency coins of the Madras and Bengal presidencies including some of the many rare E.I.C. mohurs. The Muhammadabad Banaras mohurs in particular spring to mind. These were very scarce at the time (Pridmore noted only two, 1209/37 and 1213/41), so I set two young Delhi dealers the task of trying to search out some in Lucknow (the one dealer I dealt with in Lucknow couldn’t find any) and over a period of two years they visited silversmiths and similar shops and came up with three, all in EF condition, 1192/18, 1201 17/29 and 1209/37. These mohurs remained quite scarce until early in the present century when a hoard came out of coins that had been mounted but in a very sophisticated way so as not to show any sign on the obverse or reverse. I used some of these to establish dates which range from 1192 to 1213. The double regnal year ends with 1202 17/29 and the normal regnal year begins again with 1202/30.

My work took me all over India and I had soon established contacts with numismatic societies and dealers in every part of the country. I expanded my collecting to the mints of the E.I.C. expanding backwards through previous regimes (Mughals, Marathas, etc.) and began seriously to collect the Princely States of Awadh and Mysore, which I visited frequently. Gradually my wife and I extended our collecting to everything metallic in British India as we will note in later catalogues.

Some of the coins of the E.IC. presidency series I have been proud to own and thoroughly enjoyed collecting are mentioned below:

The Portcullis series
• The auction begins with the fabled Portcullis coins (Lots 1-4), the 1, 2, 4, and 8 testerns that took me many years to assemble, rejecting many along the way. I was proud to own this set: nicely centred, attractive pieces with legends intact, no edge deformities and with good provenances.

Madras Presidency
• I very much enjoyed owning the early Mughal style gold mohurs of Madras from the Chinapatan mint: Aurangzeb Alamgir, 1114h yr 47 (Lot 44) and Muhammed Shah yr 2[-] (Lot 45) are very attractive coins and very hard to get. Also, the Arcot mohur of Alamgir II, yr 6 (Lot 75) which may be unique of that date. All were a delight to own.
• The Farrukh Siyar and Muhammad Shah quarter-rupees struck from specially prepared dies (Lots 72-73) are special coins containing the complete legends.
• The Aurangzeb Alamgir I Chinapatan copper falus or paisa (Lot 74) is a fascinating rare coin.
• I had great fun putting together what I think is the finest collection of half- and quarter-pagodas, plus minors, of the first and second issue and I hope collectors will appreciate the quality of the pieces and their diversity of markings (Lots 90-159).
• The Pridmore/Wheeler mint specimen 1807-8 set of minor denominations, five fanams, double-fanam and fanam (Lot 101) and the five-piece mint specimen 1808-12 issue from half-pagoda to fanam (Lot 108).

These exceptionally rare sets have only come onto the market every 20 years or so, thus a collector must be nimble.

• Boulton’s Soho mint copper cash coinage of 1803-8 (Lots 160-191) might seem an easy series to complete based on the two or three common coins that regularly show up in the market, but that is not at all my experience. I managed to obtain all the silver proofs from the 20 cash to the one cash, the rarest of the series, and most of the gilt proofs which are also very rare. As with so many of the currency coins in the E.I.C. series they are elusive in top condition. Because of the heavy and light weight issues of the same denomination this series is often oªered to collectors with incorrect identification numbers.
• The Madras mint XL (40) cash to 2½ cash with the two Tamil letter forms (Lots 192-215) are usually in poor condition, but through perseverance I believe I have managed to assemble a prized group of this series, especially the XL cash.
• The Machhlipatan double-rupee (Lot 256) has been a real pleasure to own and handle. Struck for a special purpose, the double-rupee was not circulated. There is only one other in private hands, plus the specimen in the British Museum.
• The Northern Circars copper dub or 1/48th rupee and half-dub or 1/96th rupee series of 1794 and 1797 struck at the Soho mint are a remarkably interesting coinage (Lots 275-291). The currency pieces, while not expensive, are hard to get in extremely fine or better condition. There are many copper and coppergilt proofs that I tried to find in EF or better condition. The two half-dubs in silver are excessively rare. Of more than twenty coins in this series only one escaped me but it reinforced a lesson I had not learned very well. Pridmore 315, a proof copper dub with the motto written SENATUS ANGLICE. This piece, from the Carnegie Museum collection, appeared in a Spink auction on 3 June 1983. Estimated at £125, I bid £210 but it sold for £320. I have never seen it again. It reinforced my view that when one runs across a rare coin in the E.I.C. series one must ‘go for it’ as it may be a generation before you see it again, if ever.
• The 1807 specimen set of the dub, half-dub and quarter-dub (Lot 294) has been a pleasure to own. From the Pridmore/Wheeler/Fore collections, I have never traced another set like it.

Bombay Presidency

• My Muhammad Shah mohur with the full Mumbai mint name, RY 11 AH 114(x) was a real thrill to own (Lot 312). It is terribly difficult to obtain in this condition. In my opinion, of the several known this is the most attractive.
• The Bombay mohur of 1765 (Lot 313), bought at Sotheby’s in February 1986, along with the companion half-mohur (Lot 314), acquired the previous summer, and a superb quarter-mohur (Lot 315) which escaped me in 1985 but I later captured at a Spink/Taisei sale in 1991. It has been a wonderful opportunity to own these three historic and stunningly beautiful coins. They were all obtained during a relatively short period of time and now there is a unique opportunity for other collectors to possess them. The half-mohur remains the only specimen known.
• The Bombay gold 15 rupees, 1770, a spectacular coin (Lot 316). I did not have the means to buy this coin at the ‘Skanda’ sale in 1991 but traced it and obtained it eight years later from a dealer. It appears to me to be the most attractive and highest grade of the few known specimens.
• The Mughal type series of Alamgir II consisting of the mohur (large gold rupee), third-mohur (gold rupee or panchia) and fifteenth-mohur or small gold rupee (Lots 317-319), struck at Mumbai about ten years after the 1765 mohur series. They are very difficult to find but I finally located three of the four coins in the 1990s. The half gold rupee has never been traced.
• The anglinas are gorgeous, underrated coins. I was fortunate to obtain all four of them between 1982 and 2000 and they have never been oªered for sale together before (Lots 320-323). The type II anglina is unique. The type I, stupendously beautiful, is a joy to hold as are the types IIIa and IIIb. A greatly coveted set of coins.
• It was a treat to own both rupee of Bombaim patterns, the 1677 Bombay London-struck pattern rupee (the only one in private hands) (Lot 324) and the extremely rare 1678 Bombay London-struck pattern rupee (Lot 325). Both were bought in London auctions in early 1986 with wonderful provenances. From the Brand auction I also obtained the pewter trial rupee of Bombaim (Lot 326). I also own two Bombaystruck rupees of Bombaim, one obtained from the Pridmore collection (Lot 328) and the other from Baldwin’s in 1985 (Lot 327). The period 1982-86 was, indeed, a most wonderful time to be a collector of E.I.C. coins.
• William and Mary Bombay rupees were almost unknown until the early 1980s and I was fortunate to obtain two beautiful specimens, years 5 and 6, from a Mughal collection bought by Seaby. Later I obtained RY 4, then I obtained a beautiful William and Mary half-rupee which appears to be unique (Lots 331-334). The James II rupee, while a bit °at in parts, is struck on a full °an (Lot 329). My quarter-rupee of James II is the best of the two known and is a remarkable little beauty (Lot 330). It has been a real pleasure collecting and owning these Mughal style local issues, both in the names of the English monarchs and in the names of the Mughal emperors.

Bengal Presidency

• The early Kolkata mint gold and silver coins were a thrill to own and extremely difficult to find in the market (Lots 567-574).
• I have owned the unique C-marked Calcutta mohur for the last 25 years and it is time for another collector to have this under-rated rarity. Since 1938 it has come up for auction an average of every 17 years (Lot 576).
• A lovely series of mohurs and fractions followed the C mohur with similar legends, but with the C omitted. I attempted to assemble a date collection of these in top condition but found it very difficult. An early series, 1769-1790, many are oª-centre or have been damaged or lost, especially in shipwrecks. I regard it as a privilege to have owned these coins (Lots 577-592). If a coin has a slightly lower grade it may have a desired older provenance, like H.M. Lingford or A. N. Brushfield, which is very important to me, or it may be a date I found very hard to locate.
• I spent a great deal of time looking for and obtaining the many mohurs and gold fractions (with their tiny dot marks) of the four milled issues beginning in 1790 from the Murshidabad, Calcutta, Dacca and Patna mints, the latter two reassigned by Paul Stevens (Lots 593-606). I also hunted for the many trials and currency rupees and fractions of these four mints (Lots 660-687). This is another large series of coins difficult to get in condition worthy of a top collection, but if one perseveres it can be done.
• The unique Calcutta trial rupee of 1761 with ‘Mubarak’ title was very satisfying to own (Lot 610).
• The latter half of the Bengal Presidency series contains the currency coins, trial pieces, proofs, specimens and patterns of Prinsep’s coinage, such a marvel to handle and collect. Many of these pieces are one of a kind or close to it and this will be a collector’s only chance to own one of these gems probably for a decade or two. The most outstanding is Prinsep’s excessively rare Pattern double-rupee of 1784, a spectacular coin and an absolute joy to hold and admire (Lot 824) while the companion half-rupee is even rarer and a delightful coin (Lot 826).
• It is very difficult to put together a set of Benares mohurs with the AH dates on them and even more difficult to do the same with the first phase of Benares rupees. These may be common coins without AH dates, but it is a real struggle to assemble a collection with AH dates in good VF or better condition (Lots 735-752).
• The silver pattern Calcutta Rupee made for the Calcutta Mint Committee in 1818 is a classic coin in the Bengal series (Lot 837). Brilliant and practically as minted, this outstanding coin has been a real treat to own and to admire.

In sum

There are many other coins that I treasure in this collection, but space precludes their inclusion here. They are all beautifully described and fully catalogued by Peter Preston-Morley who, indeed, has had a hand in purchasing many of them since 1978. Twenty-three pieces are designated as unique and 28 others as of the highest rarity, thus assuring that every collector has the opportunity to add significantly to their collection.
R.P.P.

NORMA PUDDESTER

I had collected Canadian trade dollars while living in Canada in the early 1980s, but after moving to India I became interested in Sikh coinage and culture. My husband and I made a point of visiting our favourite dealer every Saturday morning in old Delhi. Robert would usually bring home a big bag of Victoria rupees destined for the melting pot to search for dates and marks during the week and then return them to the dealer the next Saturday. One Saturday I saw these attractive coins with a leaf on them and was intrigued, so the dealer gave me a bag of several hundred pieces to bring home and have a look at.

Coincidentally, a few days later Bob Senior, Stan Goron and Ken Wiggins were staying at our house during a visit to India and Ken said he would show me how to classify these Sikh coins. They were all spread out on a card table (Ken and Stan had written the standard work on Sikh coins before Hans Herrli’s first book came out). After this expert advice I started to collect Sikh coins, spreading out to the Sikh feudatory states, then to Bharatpur and Bundi, the Marathas and also gold temple tokens.

In the meantime, Robert extended his collecting to cover the coins of the remaining Princely States, mostly looking for rare coins (his Awadh and Mysore collections were by date) and expanded to the orders, decorations and commemorative medals of the Princely States. So together we covered everything of a metallic numismatic nature during the British period in India.

In the catalogues more pertinent to my collection I will list some of my prize coins, such as the many Sikh rarities, particularly the unique Ahluwalia rupee, Shivaji gold and early silver pieces, the George Thomas rupee, the apparently only known Saharanpur Maratha mohur, and many others.
N.J.P.