A Brief Look at Coins of India and Their Four Categories

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A Brief Look at Coins of India and Their Four
Categories
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• Coins of India are studied by numismatists and
  historians all over the world due to their rich
  historical significance.
• Coins in India can be classified into four main
  categories based on their time periods namely,
  Ancient, medieval, colonial and modern. Lets
  explore each category in brief today.

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• Ancient Coins of India issued by Gandhara
  Janapada are considered to be the oldest in the
  world. These rectangular Indian coins were struck
  from 600BC to 300BC and featured a unique
  six-armed symbol.
• Old coins of India struck during the Gupta Era
  from 320AD to 550AD feature beautiful
  inscriptions and designs that truly represents
  the Golden Era of our history.

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• Medieval coins of India were issued by Shah Jahan
  in the name of his wife Mumtaz while many other
  beautiful coins issued under him featured poetic
  couplets.
• During the coronation of Maratha Warrior King
  Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, beautiful hon coins
  were struck in gold. These Indian coins are
  considered to be very rare and exquisite.

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• Coming to the colonial period, the East India
  Company issued different coins for three
  presidencies - Bengal, Madras and Bombay. Gold
  Mohur issued by British India featuring Queen
  Victoria is rare and sought after.
• Other European powers like the French, Dutch,
  Danish and Portuguese also issued their own coins
  in different parts of the Indian subcontinent in
  varying denominations and of varying types.

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• British India coins were circulated as frozen
  money even after Indias Independence on 15th
  August 1947. The first modern coins of India of
  the denomination rupee were minted in 1950.
• The anna series was discontinued and decimal
  coinage was introduced in India in 1957. Indian
  Coins struck from 1957 and 1964 featured the
  legend "Naya Paisa" on them.