Silver Ingot Info

Company Name: Narrondass Manordass

Company Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Company Information: Established in 1788, Narrondass Manordass is still operational today and is the India's oldest known refinery and manufacturer of gold and silver products. This is a family owned business where Narrondass, and his father Manordass were founding members.

Website: http://www.nm1788.com/about-narrondass-manordass/

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One interesting piece of information is that Handy & Harman, a popular American precious metals company, was a depository for Narrondass Manordass during the early 1900s holding thousands of ounces of silver for them. Here's an excerpt from the Silver Purchase Act of 1934 where this information is listed:

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Advertisement printed in a 1945 Indian magazine:

The advertisement above, which shows a 10 Tolas silver bar, proves that Tola bars were already being produced in 1945. Although it's not clear when the refiner started making these bars, it is likely that Tola bars were made till 1956 when India officially started following the metric system, at which point, they probably started making bars in grams.

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Here's Narrondass Manordass listed among other companies in Bombay who are in the metals smelting & refining business (from the Large Industrial Establishments of India authored by the Labour Bureau of India): In 1951, Amratlal G.Sonawala, great grandson of Narrondass, took over the leadership and enhanced reputation of the company. The data above shows that the company had a total of 30 employees in 1958. Amartlal Sonawala was elected as President of the Bombay Bullion Association from 1969 to 1980 due to his creditability in the bullion industry. After Amratlal, his son Mukul Sonawala and Mukul's son, Anshul Sonawala started seeing over the company. Mukul Sonawala continued the high reputation of the firm and was elected as the Vice President of the Indian Bullion & Jewellery Association (formerly known as Bombay Bullion Association) in the year 1992 for a period of 7 years and thereafter President for a period of 2 years. Anshul Sonawala was also elected as the Vice-President to serve the Association for the year 2014-15. As of April 2nd 2021, Mukul & Anshul Sonawala are still managing the company.

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Known sizes (Vintage bars): 5 grams, 10 grams, 25 grams, 50 grams, 100 grams, 250 grams, 500 grams, 5 Tolas, 10 Tolas, 25 Tolas, 50 Tolas.

Narrondass Manordass is still one of the largest producer of silver bars in India and their modern bars include 5, 10, 50, 100, 200, 250, 500, 1000 grams bars

Gallery: