Tranquebar coins
Christian 5th.
1730 - 1699
With the
arrival of the Ship Færø in 1669, as the first ship
from Denmark in 26 years, regular trade with Denmark started again. During the
reign of Christian 5th one or two ships
were send to Tranquebar each year. The Danish ships again sailed regularly to
the Sunda Islands to Bantam, Japara
and Mallaca after spices.
With the
revival of the trade a new Danish East India Company was
formed. In Danish: Dansk Ostindinsk Company
and therefor the abbreviation DOC is on the coins. The charter of the new
company was signed in 1670 for a period of 40 years.
According to the charter the Company got the use and
revenue of Tranquebar and in return was obliged to keep and defend the fort for
the king.
In 1674 a peace treaty was signed with Bengal. The treaty ended
the privateering war and the Danish obtained the right to trade duty-free at Pipely and Balasore and to
establish a new factory in Bengal. Ships were send to Bantam, Japara, Mallaca
in present days Indonesia and to Mokka in Arabia.
Preparations to realise old plans for trade with China and Japan were started.
After some
years with successful trade and no major shipwreck, a period of decline starts
about 1680 with some shipwreck, and the loos of the factory at Bantam.
In 1686 Von Kalnein takes over as governor and during his short stay in
Tranquebar he workes energetically. Von Kalneins strong influence is seen
in the coins. KM 95 and 96 has the letter K for Kalnein.
And others have WHVK for Wulf
Heinrich von Kalnein. Coins with K and WHVK must have been minted from 1686 and onwards. Even von Kalnein left Tranquebar in 1688, coins with his initials are
also minted with the years 1689,1690 and 1691.
The lead coins
without K or WHVK must be from 1670 - 1686. The lead coins with K must be from
1686. The lead coins with WHVK, KM 97 - 100 are dated and are from 1687 and
1688. They are the last lead coins from Tranquebar and they are the most
beautiful.
Lead coins of
Christian 5th. are divided in 1 kas weighing about 2,3 g (number 90, 91 and 92)
and 2 kas weighing about 4,6 g (number 93 - 100)
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1 kas lead coins with
weight 2.3 g |
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90 |
obvers revers |
C5 monogram. DC monogram. The letters DC are short
for Danish Ostindisk Kompagni, which was
established in 1670 |
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91 |
obvers revers |
Crown C5 monogram.
DCmonogram |
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92 |
obvers revers |
Crown
C5 monogram. Crown DOC monogram Note: There are several variants |
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2 kas lead
coins with weight 4.6 g |
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93 |
obvers revers |
Crown C5 monogram. Crown DOC monogram Small letters The letters DOC are short for: Danish East
Indian Compagni , which was established in 1670. |
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94 |
obvers revers |
Crown C5 monogram. Crown DOC monogram, Big letters Note: There are several variants. |
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95 |
obvers revers |
Crown C5 monogram. Crown DOC monogram, K under small DOC letters. K below the monogram probably refers to
Governor von Kalnien |
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96 |
obvers revers |
Crown C5 monogram. Crown DOC monogram K under big DOC letters |
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97 |
obvers revers |
Crown
C5 monogram. Front crown C5 monogram between16 87 .. Crown DOC monogram, WHVK under the monogram WHVK refers to Wulf
Heinrich von Kalnien, the new governor who
arrived in 1686. |
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98 |
obvers revers |
Crown C5 monogram. Front crown C5
monogram between 16 87 Crown DOC monogram, WHVK
under monogram WHVK refers to Wulf
Heinrich von Kalnien . This coin is the largest and most
beautiful lead coin from Tranquebar |
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99 |
obvers revers |
Crown
C5 monogram. monogram
between 16 88 and rosettes Crown DOC monogram, WHVK under monogram |
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100 |
obvers revers |
Crown C5 monogram. monogram between 16 88 Crown * DOC * monogram, WHVK under
Monogram |
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With the beautiful lead coins with the years 1687
and 1688 and with von Kalniens initials, end the minting of lead
coins in Trankebar. Copper coins from C5 are small 1 kas coins with a
weight of about 1 g. They are beautiful and with a very detailed
inscription. |
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1 Kas copper coins |
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117 |
obvers revers |
Crown C5 monogram. Blank This coin is often overstrike on Frederik 3rd. 1 kas copper
KM 118,1. This coin must be the first of C 5's copper coins
and it must be minted before von Kalniens arrival in 1686. |
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119 |
obvers revers |
Crown
double C5 monogram that seperate the last two
digits of the year Crown DOC monogram, At the bottom WHVK (16) 89 (16) 90 (16)
09 instead of 1690 (16) 91 |
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120 |
obvers revers |
Crown double C5 monogram Crown DOC monogram, between 1 and 6 Below the two last figures in the year
1692, 1694 1697; |
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