Half Anna East India Company – The English East India Company was founded on 31st December, 1600 to combat Dutch competition in the East. It was given a monopoly over all English trade in the eastern countries. In 1613 CE, the Company gained permission from the Mughal emperor Jahangir to conduct trade activities in India after defeating the Portuguese in a naval battle. The first factory (warehouse) of the Company was built in Surat. The seventeenth century for the Company was largely spent competing with the Portuguese and the Dutch and occasionally being oppressed by the Mughals and the emerging regional powers.
In 1757 CE, the surprise victory of the Company at the battle of Plassey against the nawab of Bengal handed them control over an entire province which was solidified after the battle of Buxar (1764). Thereafter, inflow of bullion from England was stopped to fund the Company’s trade and it started using the Bengal revenues to maintain its trade and build a formidable army. By the mid-nineteenth century, the English East India Company was the largest corporation in the world, controlling the majority of South Asia, parts of South-East Asia and Hong Kong. The British Parliament started gradually reducing the power of the Company through successive laws and took over the administration of its Indian territories in 1858 CE following the Sepoy Munity. The Company closed its doors in 1874 CE due to consistent financial troubles.
The specifications of this coin:
- Weight: 12.35 gm
- Diameter: 31 mm
- Shape: Round
- Orientation: Medal Alignment
- Edge: Plain Edge
- Metal: Copper
