Posted on: 26 September 2011

The New Mint, Bombay - 1833

Plate four from J M Gonsalves' 'Views at Bombay'. During the 1820s, institutions for currency production were constructed in various parts of India including Bombay, Benares and Calcutta. These imposing Doric structures can be seen to represent the feeling of growing political power of the English. The Bombay Mint was constructed between 1821and 1829 on the site of the Fort rubbish dump. The architect was John Hawkins of the Bombay Engineers. The building on the right of the picture is the Town Hall.

Source : British Library


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I don't think I have ever seen this particular view of the Bombay Mint before. Superb print. I especially like the details of the costumes.

Both the Mint and the Town Hall (The Asiatic Society Library) stand today. The foreground is where the Frere Road and Naoroji Road meet (The corner of the erstwhile Lloyds Branch of Grindlays Bank). I still remember the day in 1966 when I had the opportunity to visit the Mint and see how coins were minted. I relish the memory of holding two fistfuls of warmly minted two paise coins and could not take my eyes off the jingling stream of 50 paise coins as they fell into the bin from the machine. The Government of India Mint was the only official assayer of gold. During the days of gold control act, no private body was officially allowed to hold/ melt gold in bullion form.

There were very few European-style buildings of any note in Bombay until about 1810/ 1820 ~ hence the use of the word ' new' in reference to the Mint in the illustration above. The Mint and the Town Hall which, as Shekhar points out, still stand today were both early attempts by the British authorities to leave some sort of architectural impact on the city and to create a planned framework for its further development. The Town Hall (only a corner of which is visible above) is ~ by all accounts, for I have never seen it in person ~ actually the more interesting of the two buildings. The Doric columns that adorn its frontage were made in Britain and shipped out to India by the E.I.C. !!

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The Town Hall, in my eyes, continues to be the most beautiful buildings in town. The wide steps in the front are a fantasy. http://maps.google.co.in/maps/place?hl=en&sugexp=pfwc&cp=12&gs_id=1c&xhr=t&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1280&bih=661&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=the+asiatic+society+of+mumbai&fb=1&gl=in&hq=the+asiatic+society+of&hnear=0x3be7c6306644edc1:0x5da4ed8f8d648c69,Mumbai,+Maharashtra&cid=7085154466706235945&ei=x-yCTpCHE4KtiAefsZSPDw&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=photo-link&cd=1&resnum=4&sqi=2&ved=0CEYQnwIoADAD

Are The Asiatic Society and the Town Hall...one and the same ?

Yes, the Asiatic Society is housed in the Town Hall. There is no function a Town Hall can serve these days. The Asiatic Society's Library is the richest in India in terms of books but poorest in terms of maintenance. You will find many a errant scholars of Bombay holed up in there doing research or wallowing in the old books.