Hidden Since the Age of Sail: 19th-Century British Coins Tied to Moresby’s Maldives & Chagos Survey Discovered in Malé
- Ibrahim Rasheed
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
In June 2017, during routine renovation work at Sultan Park in the heart of Malé, Maldives, workers uncovered a remarkable hoard of silver coins with other old artifacts.
What began as an ordinary construction dig quickly turned into a significant archaeological and historical event. The Ministry of Arts, Culture and Heritage was notified, and officials carefully sifted through the soil to recover dozens, eventually hundreds, of coins. These artifacts, primarily British India silver issues from the East India Company era, offered a tangible link to a pivotal moment in Maldivian and British maritime history: the 1830s surveys of Captain Robert Moresby.
The coins span the late reign of King William IV (1830–1837) and the early to middle reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901). The earliest pieces date to around 1835, coinciding with the major British India currency reform that introduced standardized uniform coinage across the presidencies. These William IV issues typically feature the king’s portrait or inscriptions and represent the transition toward a more unified imperial monetary system.
The bulk of the hoard consists of the iconic Victoria “Young Head” silver rupees and fractions, especially those dated 1839 and 1840. These beautiful coins show a youthful profile of the queen facing left, inscribed “VICTORIA QUEEN,” with a reverse featuring a laurel wreath enclosing “ONE RUPEE” and the East India Company legend. The 1840 issues are particularly well-represented and are textbook examples of early colonial coinage that circulated widely across the Indian Ocean trade routes.
Later coins in the collection include uniform issues from 1862 onward (after the British Crown assumed direct rule of India in 1858) and “Empress” issues from the 1870s–1890s, when Victoria’s title changed to Empress of India. These later pieces often bear mint marks from Calcutta or Bombay. Some pieces show possible British Ceylon influences, reflecting the close regional circulation of currency between India, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and the Maldives during this period. All were high-purity silver (.917 fine for rupees), making them reliable trade coins in an era when the Maldives still relied heavily on imported silver alongside its famous cowrie shell currency.
The timing of this hoard is no coincidence. It aligns precisely with one of the most important British hydrographic endeavors in the Indian Ocean: Captain Robert Moresby’s survey of the Maldives (1834–1836). Moresby, a skilled hydrographer of the East India Company’s Bombay Marine (later Indian Navy), had already earned fame for his Red Sea surveys. In late 1834 he arrived in Malé with instructions to chart the complex atoll system that posed such a hazard to shipping on the vital India-to-Cape trade routes.
Local Maldivian authorities, protective of the strategic knowledge of their reefs and channels, initially delayed permission. Moresby proceeded with his work anyway, assisted by Lieutenants Christopher, Young, and Powell. By 1835–1836 he had completed the first modern, accurate hydrographic survey of the Maldives. His detailed charts, published in three large sheets around 1838–1839, remained the standard reference for navigators well into the 20th century. A channel in the northern Maldives still bears his name today.
The coins arrived in Malé through several overlapping channels tied to this period of heightened British activity:
As payment or trade goods carried by Moresby’s own vessels or subsequent East India Company ships.
Stashed for safekeeping by merchants, officials, or locals amid the tensions and opportunities created by the foreign survey team.
As part of the normal flow of Indian Ocean commerce, in which British Indian silver rupees served as a trusted medium of exchange alongside cowries.
In the 1830s the Maldives was a sultanate maintaining loose ties with British Ceylon and India. Foreign coins were commonplace in daily transactions and long-distance trade. The discovery of this concentrated hoard at Sultan Park, once the grounds of the old sultan’s palace, suggests it may have been deliberately hidden during or shortly after Moresby’s visit, perhaps reflecting the mixture of curiosity, caution, and economic interaction that characterized early British-Maldivian encounters
Official records from the Maldives Ministry of Arts, Culture and Heritage confirm the significance of the find. Correspondence from 2023 Maldives preferences earlier reports of roughly 80 coins initially recovered, with later inventories noting batches reaching into the hundreds (including figures around 96, 139, and even higher counts in broader tallies). Recovery dates cluster in June and October 2017. Detailed tables in the Ministry’s reports break down the coins by date of issue, showing strong representation from 1835 through the 1890s. Photographs of the actual silver pieces, including clear examples from 1835, accompany the official documentation.
Breakdown by Coin Date (approximate numbers from the table):
Coin Year | Coins Found (examples) | Notes |
1835 | Significant number | William IV / early Victoria period |
1839 | Several | Victoria Young Head |
1840 | Many | Classic East India Company Victoria Rupee |
1862 | Some | Early uniform Victoria issues |
1878–1892 | Various | Later Victoria "Empress" issues |
Total coins referenced across documents: Over 100–700+ depending on the batch/report.
Photos of actual coins (silver rupees and fractions) from 1835 are included in the report.
Today, these coins remain under the care of Maldivian heritage authorities. While they have been studied and documented, at the request of the Parliament of Maldives, they are not currently on public display at the National Museum.
The 2017 Sultan Park discovery is more than a collection of old silver coins. It is a small but vivid chapter in the larger story of how British maritime power, scientific surveying, and trade networks intersected with the ancient sultanate of the Maldives. Thanks to Mohamed Thoriq (Manadhoo Thoriq) and the preservation efforts of modern Maldivian heritage officials, these silent witnesses from the 1830s continue to speak across nearly two centuries, reminding us of the deep, interconnected history of the Indian Ocean.
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