Silver Ingot Info

Company Name: Dena Bank / Devkaran Nanjee Banking Co. Ltd

Company Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Company Information: Founded on May 26th, 1938 by Pranlal Devkaran Nanjee in Bombay as Devkaran Nanjee Banking Company Ltd., it was later incorporated as a public company, DENA Bank (Devkaran Nanjee) Ltd, in December 1939. Pranalbhai was inspired by his late father, Shri Devkaran Nanjee’s dream to start a bank and wanted to play a seminal role in the development of Indian banking industry.

In July 1969, Dena Bank Ltd., along with 13 other major banks, was nationalized and is now a Public Sector Bank constituted under the Banking Companies (Acquisition & Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970.

Known sizes: 50 grams, 100 grams, 200 grams, 5 Tolas, 10 Tolas, 20 Tolas, 50 Tolas, 100 Tolas

A note on possible years of production: The 5, 10, and 20 Tolas bars by His Majesty's Mint (H.M. Mint), Bombay with the crown logo and Dena Bank's Goddess Lakshmi logo were most probably produced between 1938 and 1947, 1938 being the year in which this bank was established and 1947 is the year when H.M. Mint was renamed.

Here's a receipt for a 10 Tolas silver made by H.M. Mint dated June 28, 1938 (28-6-1938): (Accessed from http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php?topic=18987.0 on March 29, 2021)

Here's an advertisement of Dena bank in The Bombay Chronicle on August 30, 1945. Logo of Dena Bank, Goddess Lakshmi - the Goddess of wealth can be seen at the top.

After India's independence in 1947, His Majesty's Mint became India Government Mint (I.G. Mint) so the 5, 10, and 20 Tolas with the I.G. Mint's State Emblem of India and Dena Bank's DNB monogram were probably produced after this year.

In 1956, The Standards of Weights and Measures Act was passed which led to the Tola being officially replaced by Metric system (grams). So the 50, 100, and 200 grams bars were probably minted starting in 1956 until Dena Bank's nationalization in 1969 by the government of India.

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