from CASH to TRASH
british era mint
Situated just by the side of Hooghly River is the Calcutta Mint. Estd. in 1800s this mint facility was under British rule. As at that time Calcutta was the capital of India, before transferring to Delhi in 1911.
In March 1824 the foundation of the third Calcutta Mint was laid on Strand Road and was opened for production from 1 August 1829. Until 1835 the coins issued at this mint continued to be in the name of the Murshidabad Mint. The imposing frontage of the building of the third Mint was based on a design of the Temple of Athena in Athens, Greece, usually known as the Parthenon. The operative blocks were hidden out of view by the magnificent frontage. The mint facility was, as usual under high security and was a state of the art facility of that time, the coinage production capacity then was varying between 3,00,000 to 6,00,000 pieces per day.
After the closure of this mint in 1952 the building fell into disrepair, after years of neglect. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation declared this building as a heritage building. A proposal to restore this building and convert its vast spaces into a museum was put up, and on 10 July 2008 pre-qualification bids were received from eight developers. The project will be a public-private partnership between the Security Printing and Minting Corporation, under the finance ministry, owner of the mint, and the winning bidder.
Today, the entire campus of the mint facility is shared and used by different paramilitary forces. A large number of barracks and temporary tents has been established to accommodate security personnel.
Although, today, the security of the place is very strict and infringing it’s privacy is taken as extreme prejudice but I managed to take few very ambiguous photos of the facility. From photographer’s point of view the place is full of beautiful texture, washed-off colors and obviously the place breaths out a glorious Victorian Era.
Photos Of The Mint Facility
