Copper “dubs” from Bheemili

A Dutch-minted Mughal copper coin - 1719-48



I’m now sure that Bheemli had a mint, but am unable to find any reliable source that gives the details. Some entries on the forum, www.worldofcoins.eu, say that the Dutch did issue copper dubs (check out the resemblance to the Telugu word for money: “dabbu”) in Machilipatam, Jaggernaikpur (Kakinada), and Bimlipatam. The dubs were a continuation of a type of coin introduced by the Mughal emperor, Aurangazeb Alamgir.

The entries say the mint in Bimlipatam was established under authority of a grant by the Raja of Vizianagaram; it is supposed to have minted copper dubs at least up to 1794.

These entries also mention an English mint in Vizagapatam, which started minting dubs in 1797 and continued to do so on and off until 1809, when it was shut down.

Bheemili's Copper Purchases

According to the book “The Intra-Asian Trade in Japanese Copper by the Dutch East India Company” by Ryuto Shimada, Bimlipatam bought 50,000-100,000 Dutch pounds of Dutch-imported Japanese copper in 1700-02 and over 100,000 Dutch pounds of copper in 1740-42, figuring among the largest buyers of Dutch-imported copper in South Asia.


What was it doing with all this copper? Did it have a mint?