Why are East India Company coins in Straits Settlements ?

 

 Or is the East India Company a country. Should it be in tokens. It's a companys coin. Right
         yours daryl

Nah. East India Company coins were used as official currency all over India and Malaysia.

I've got this one where the Straits Settlements was referred to as India Straits.

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces34024.html

Well in California in 1850's a pinch of gold dust was accepted as payment. Should California gold dust be in too?
Then the East India Company should be listed in the country list.

The difference is the East India company actually RULED part of India and the East Indies which is why their currency is listed under India and Straits Settlements

Then it's a country.

A group of people who rule a area and issues coins ,hm sounds like a country to me.

It's kinda complicated though, The members of the East India company were British citizens but took over parts of East Indies with private armies.

It was Company rule, the British East India Company did run parts of India like it was a colony, like other countries also did (Imperial British East Africa company etc).

They produced coins for the Straits Settlements, parts of Malaya like Malacca, Java etc. They also produced a 1/2 penny in 1821 for Mauritius. These were all parts of the world that they were granted to rule by Britain.

If you had countries listed like you suggest, there would be a hell of a lot more like Anglo-Saxon England,  white raj Borneo.  

Same as with Netherlands East Indies coins with VOC on them.

I know I would not want to change but just trying to get things going. The forum is a wee bite dead. But if you think about it, it a bite strange.

It's a good topic mind !

Just trying to get people talking. I just got the East India penny and found it in Straits Settlement. And got me thinking. I got it free from my brother as a joke. Long story. He won.
                 yours daryl

Not a bad way to lose !

I am also confused about who and how determine what is a country and what is not. I am sure that our Numista catalogue is based on KM catalogue, and if KM says that something is a country than that is a country. But I personaly think that KM did a bad job because there is no consistency. Few days ago I asked why is Belgian Congo different than Congo, but for example Portuguese Angola is the same as Angola, and British India is the same as India? The explanation that I got makes no sense to me because I can find examples where the same rule is not applied. Why Kingdom of France and France are two different countries but Yugoslavia and Kingdom of Yugoslavia are one country? Why is a British Malaya different than Malaysia and Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians is still Yugoslavia...

I think that someone smart should first make rules about everything and then apply those rules on all countries and coins, and if somebody asks why is something a coin and not a token, there should be an explanation that makes sense. That would be a serious job but someone needs to do it.