| SPECIFICATIONS | |
| Denomination | pence |
| Alloy | Copper |
| Diameter | 22.8 mm |
| Thickness | 1.3 mm |
| Weight | 3.35 gms |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Grained |
| DieAxis | 0° |
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| Lowsley #1 Pridmore #3 Mitchiner #unlisted | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Obverse : | A . A. | ,with line beneath; the whole within a dotted circle. |
| Reverse : | 3 ANNAS | within a dotted circle, the figure 3 coming above the word ANNAS, and with a line between. |
Lowsley states that this is the only token he met with for Ceylon
which had Indian currency inscribed upon it.
Number of tea plantations in South India, had issued 3 Anna tokens.
This token is now also listed in Pridmore, Part 4, India, Volume 2
4A A[nglo]-A[merican direct tea trading co.]
No company or estate can be traced in Ceylon whose name corresponds to
the initials A.A., but research and the monetary value suggestions
that it was issued by the Anglo-American Direct Tea Trading Co. Lt.,
Nellampatty, Malabar, S. India. The company were proprietors of tea,
coffee, and cardamom estates in various districts of South India. They
also had tea gardens in Assam. Their Calcutta agents were Finlay,
Muir & Co.
Reference
* Coins and Tokens
of Ceylon, Lieut. Col B. Lowsley, Num. Chron. Sr III Vol. XV, 1895.
* The Coins of British Commonwealth of Nations to the end of the
reign of George VI 1952
Part 2 - Asian Territories by F. Pridmore Spink & Son Ltd., 1965.
Tokens
* Oriental Coins AD 600 - 1979 by Michael Mitchiner 1979
The VF grade token was scanned at 300 dpi and the images are displayed at 250 dpi. It was purchased in 2003 April from NY-USA dealer. I thank S. K. Bose and Richard Anderson for ther replies to my questions about this token on SACG.