PREVIEW: THE PUDDESTER COLLECTION PART ONE 8-9 FEBRUARY

Another superlative among the Puddester collection of coins of the East India Company that Noonans will offer on 8 and 9 February is this Bombay Pattern Rupee of 1677 – the only one in private ownership.

Gerald Aungier, the second Governor of Bombay, was responsible for transforming the island town into a commercial centre, creating the foundation for what we see today.

An East India Company man from an early age, Aungier advanced rapidly, becoming Factor at Surat – the leading port for textiles and the export centre of the Mughal Empire – at the age of 21 and eventually President of the Factory in 1669 and, by default, the Governor of Bombay.

As Aungier set about building an effective administrative framework, including a judiciary and militia, to foster peace and stability, he also devised policies for encouraging trade. One of these was to establish a Mint, which was eventually set up in 1676.

During this process, Aungier proposed issuing a rupee bearing the name of Charles II, and in February 1677 the Court in London was presented with a proposed design that was later approved by the King.

Initially, the coins were struck in London, with rupees dated 1677, and many of those dated 1678, displaying a better fabric than later issues.

Dies and coining instruments were sent out to Bombay from London, arriving in August 1678, but the loss of the ‘expert coiner’, one John Morrice, to consumption within a week of landing at Bombay, left the project rudderless.

All efforts to strike coins in Bombay with decent impressions were unsuccessful, the blame being placed on the shallowness and low relief of George Bower’s dies.

The example offered for sale here was struck in London by Bowers, the only other known specimen to be found in the British Museum.

The estimate for the Bombay Pattern Rupee is £80,000-100,000.

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Auction Details (including Video Overview)

Auction Catalogue