The Evolution of Money in India

In ancient times, there were no metallic coins, paper currency notes or digital money in the form of debit cards/credit cards/electronic wallets. Since money did not exist in the form that we know today, how did people in those days trade or do transactions with each other ?

In those early days, the barter system was prevalent where one type of goods were exchanged for another, like rice being exchanged for fruits. From this, over the centuries, the concept of money emerged gradually evolving to coins (made of various metals), currency notes (made of paper and even plastic) and digital money that we are all very familiar with today. While different commodities were initially used as medium of exchange, later on cowries, beads, whale tooth, salt, small metallic pieces made of copper, silver or gold with punch marks/ symbols/inscriptions on them began to be used. In fact, some consider the seals excavated from Mohenjo Daro and Harappa (2500 BC - 1750 BC) were actually coins, but there is no consensus on this.

India was one of the first to issue coins and the history of Indian coinage goes back more than 2600 years.  Indian coinage is diverse in terms of shape, size, metal, scripts, etc. ranging from punch marked coins to machine made coins, copper coins to silver and gold coins, small coins to large coins, square coins to round and octagonal coins. Symbols from nature like sun, tree, hills, animal motifs like bull, geometric symbols and later on kings, queens, Gods and Goddesses, etc are to be found on these coins. While the front side of a coin is known as the Obverse, the back of a coin is known as the Reverse.

Indian Coins, for convenience, can be categorised into Ancient, Medieval, Mughal, Late Pre-Colonial, British India and Republic India. The earliest Indian coins called Shatamana (meaning hundred measures) weighing 100 rattis  were silver punch marked bent bar coins issued around 6^th century BC by the Gandhara Empire (located in present North Pakistan and East Afghanistan upto Taxila). The weight of a Shatamana was around 11.2 grams of pure silver and these coins are extremely rare today. Their length was generally 40-50 mm and width 7-9 mm. These coins have a typical six-armed symbol punched on the face at each end and as the coins were narrow, the punchmark was generally only partial. Later around 500 BC, Shatamana fractions were minted on circular concave flans with a single punchmark of the six-armed symbol on one side. The denominations were 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 and 1/32 Shatamana weighing around 5 grams, 2.8 grams, 1.5 grams, 0.7 grams and 0.2 grams.

The Shatamana Coinage system continued till around 300 BC when Gandhara was captured by Chandragupta Maurya. The Magadhan and Mauryan empires issued the Imperial series of punch-marked coins with a uniform weight of 7.6 grams, 5.4 grams, 4.6 grams and 3.4 grams.

It is interesting that a black and red seed of the gunja berry known as ratti was the basic unit of the Indian coin weight system, which has now been standardised at 0.1215 grams. Coins were minted by the British initially in silver but gradually they shifted to brass, bronze, aluminium, etc which were not precious and thus the shift from precious metal coinage to token currency took place. Earlier in 1330, Muhammed-Bin-Tughlak (AD 1325-1351) had issued token currency of brass and copper coins whose value was equal to that of gold and silver coins. His experiment, however, failed as a large number of fake coins were minted which disrupted trade and the token currency was, therefore, discontinued in 1333.

The Reserve Bank of India has established the Monetary Museums at Kolkata and Mumbai, which gives a detailed history of Indian Coinage, and it is definitely worth visiting for anyone who has an interest in Numismatics or the history of Indian Coinage.

As every coin tells a story, Numismatics or collecting coins and currency notes is often seen as an interesting hobby. However, it is also emerging as a good investment opportunity. Numismatic Exhibitions are held from time to time across the country where you can not only view and understand the history of coins and paper currency, but also buy and sell them. Of course, one has to be careful as some fake coins are also in circulation and some unscrupulous traders may try to pass off common coins as rare coins and sell them to you at fancy prices. The “Buyer has to Beware” and for this purpose, you need to read books on numismatics, attend numismatic exhibitions, view videos/blogs on the internet, visit the RBI Monetary Museum as well as talk to experts in this field to increase your knowledge.

With a view to enhance the knowledge in this area, I am starting this Blog called “sikkekikahani” to serve as a forum to discuss the intricacies and exchange knowledge on the subject and will be showcasing coins from my collection from time to time. I am beginning this Blog by sharing photos of the first Indian Coins in my collection of around 6^th Century BC (period of Buddha) minted in Gandhara, Afghanistan:

Two Extremely Rare Silver Punchmarked Bent Bar Coins called Shatamana (11.43 gms & 11.4 gms) 

Two Rare Silver Concave Flans Punchmarked Coins called 1/4 Shatamana (2.78 gms each)

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