The other day I was thinking, why not post something related to coins. Thats when I stumbled upon the idea of the Indian independence through coinages. So coinage history is what this post series is all concerned about and how it made history. But instead of going through independence, I will start right from the first coin being found in India.
Early coinage were minted out of Gold or Silver. It proved the abundance of gold and silver in those era. This coin was supposedly minted somewhere between 2500 BC and 1750 BC. These were the Mohenjo-Daro excavations. But it still is unknown whether they are seals or coins.
 This probably might have laid the foundations for coinage. Some of these were found in other countries indicating the presence of trade in those days. Next is the punch marked coins. They were the first documented coinage and were issued between the 7th-6th century BC and 1st century AD. These coins are called 'punch-marked' coins because of their manufacturing technique. Mostly made of silver, these bear symbols, each of which was punched on the coin with a separate punch.
Then there were many coins issued as these:
  These coins were put forth mainly by the local people for easy trade and used to ersatz the usual barter system which seemed to be getting on the head. These coins had pagan symbols like sun, moon, trees and more. These were the next step in coinages. This is because thay had some definitive shapes and aimed for people of a particular janapadas or small local states. The coins first didn't have any definitive shapes. But gradually it seemed to have a circular, square or rectangular shape.
Then were the coins related to Indo Greek. These coins with their Greek legends are historically significant, as the history of the Indo-Greeks has been reconstructed almost entirely on their evidence. This was supposedly minted between 2BC to 2 AD.
These coins shows that there were established trade links between Indian and the Greece, though I don't think there was a country India then, all were divided amonst separate kingships.
You might be wondering what significance these old coins has got to the title 'India through the flip of coins'. These coins tells the story of ancient India. How they did the trade, the economy which was a rich economy. Those days Gold and silver were usual substances found in abundance. It showed their mutual understanding for trade amongst different civilizations.
There is a vast history of these coins. Lots got to be told till we reach the present age. Such is the varied history of Indian civilization.Labels: ancient india coins, Coins, indian coins, story of coins |
The history of coins is very interesting topic. I have a series of stamps about archaic coins of China,But I feel very sorry that I know little about the inside story.
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