Become a coin collector
- POSTED ON: 24 Apr, 2020
- TOTAL VIEWS: 1007 Views
- POSTED BY: Madhuvanti S. Krishnan
- ARTICLE POINTS: 150 Points
Are you a numismatist? Do coins fascinate you beyond the sound of them jingling in your pocket? Well, here’s an interesting fact. To begin with coins weren’t always round? Imagine that, eh?
India has an interesting history of coins and how they came to be. One of the earliest coins was Satamana – known as bent-bar. It was rectangular and is believed to have been issued by the Kuru and Panchala realms in north-central India.
In Kasi, Kosala and Magadha the first coins were known as Karshapanas. They are considered one of the oldest ones from the Indian Subcontinent, dating back to 7th century BC.
During the reign of Sher Shar Suri a rupee coin was issued. It was the precursor of the one we use today. In the 1950s, we had half rupee and quarter rupee coins too.
Did you know that the Indian 5 Rupee coins were occasionally smuggled into Bangladesh? They were melted and used to make razors. This business greatly devalued the coins and harmed the economy. Thus, the government had made it illegal to melt coins or destroy currency notes.
Play this game and identify the era to which these coins belong. Arrange them in the order of oldest to newest.