Coins

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The ancient coins of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa which dated back to the 2500 BC or even earlier are popularly known as the punch marked coins. Punch marked coins became very famous during the 7th-6th century BC and 1st century AD. The basic reason that these coins are called punch-marked coins was because they had special manufacturing technique. The coins were mostly of the metal silver and they bore symbols which were punched on the coin with another punch. The symbols and the designs found on these coins were mostly inspired from nature. Symbols of the sun, various animals, trees, hills etc. were punched on the metal. Some of the coins had geometrical designs too.
Another significant type of ancient Indian coins is the Dynastic coin. These coins are generally from the period between the 2nd century BC and 2nd century AD. These silver coins were used for trading by the Indo-Greeks. The coins predominantly bore symbols of the Greek Gods and Goddesses. Keeping the Greek mythology in mind, these coins are very important from the point of view of studying Greek legends. The Saka coinages of the Western Kshatrapas are perhaps the earliest dated coins. The Saka era represents the official calendar of the Indian Republic.
The ‘Satavahanas’ who were the early rulers of the Godavari and the Krishna river region brought the Western-Deccan and Central India under their control. They more often traded with copper and lead coins, however, silver issues of this period are found as well. These coins carried the motifs of elephants, lions, bulls, horses, etc. often put besides the symbols of hills, tree, etc. The Western Kshatrap coins are considered to be the earliest coins which bore dates. The common copper coins of this period contained the ‘bull and hill’ and the ‘elephant and hill’ symbols. The legends on the coins were generally in Greek and Brahmi.

The Gupta era too are known for their antique Indian coins of the 4th, 5th and the 6th century AD. The coins of this era depicted the king on the face and a deity on the tail side. The coins bore Indian deities and the legends were in the Brahmi language. The earliest Gupta coins are attributed to kings like Samudragupta, Chandragupta II and Kumaragupta. The Gupta coins often honor dynastic succession as well as significant events like marriage alliances, the horse sacrifice, etc. Post-Gupta coinage of the 6th-12th centuries AD is epitomized by a droning and visually less interesting series of dynastic issues. The Bull & Horseman type of coins were the most common design appearing on coins struck by the Rajputs. The South Indian coin depicted motifs on bull, tiger, fish, bow and arrow, lion etc.
Ancient India had trade links with the Middle East, Greece, Rome as well as China. Even today, Ancient Indian coins have a considerable demand in the numismatic market. [Reference RBI India].

Going in for gold
Most people, with the exception of coin collectors, would invest in gold coins based on the ‘safety’ factor that gold has. Gold is, after all, less influenced by market trends than other instruments of investment. The added advantage with investing in gold coins is that if you pick up coins that have a chance of becoming a rarity, they could appreciate far more than ordinary bullion gold. Depending on your investment style you could opt to seek the advice of a gold coin dealer or an ancient coin dealer. Ancient gold coins, depending on how rare they are, could command a substantial premium.

Safe with silver
You could also opt to invest in silver coins. There is a whole array of valuable coins that you could buy from silver coin dealers that would make interesting acquisitions. A 1936, half-rupee, silver coin, bearing the name of King George V is a collectors’ item that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg and if nothing else, the value of a silver coin must be at least as much as its actual bullion silver content. Though silver coins are very popular in India, one must remember that an old silver coin’s value, like the value of any ancient coin, depends on other factors such as grade, rarity and demand. Silver dollars, the American Silver Eagle and the Canadian maple Leaf Silver Coins are easy to come by.
Know how
You can refer to a published coin price guide, available at local bookstores to check the price of the coin you want to buy. Such publications contain valuable information about the prevailing prices for various different coins. Ancient coin dealers can also provide valuable tips on how to start and maintain a coin collection. Most coin dealers would recommend opting for an ancient coins collection as such coins are easy to come by. The Internet is also a great source of information about coin collecting and online price guides can in fact, be even more accurate than published versions as they are updated frequently.

Early English coins in India have developed along the three broad groupings namely; Western India, which is, Bombay & Surat, those in South India (Madras) and those in the Eastern Province of Bengal i.e. (Calcutta). Early English coins accordingly developed in consonance with the local acceptability of the coins for the purposes of trade. The coins of Bengal were developed in sync with the Mughal pattern. The coins of South India i.e. Madras were struck along Pagoda lines both in design and metrology as well as along Mughal designs also.

Mughal as well as English patterns were used on the English coins of Western India.
Emperor Farrukhsiyar gave the permission to coin Mughal money at the Bombay mint late in 1717 AD. English pattern coins were struck at the Bombay Mint. ‘Carolina’ was the term used for gold coins, the silver coins were called the ‘Anglina’, the copper coins were termed as ‘Cupperoon’ and ‘Tinny’ was used for tin coins.
By the early 1830, the English had become the dominant power in India. The rise of one dominant power after over a hundred years of turmoil enabled the enactment of the Coinage Act of 1835 and for uniform coinage to be issued. 1835 was the year when newly designed coins with the effigy of William IV on the obverse and the value on the reverse in English and Persian were issued.

The portrait of Queen Victoria was inscribed on the Indian coins which were issued after 1840. The first coinage was issued in 1862 and in 1877 Queen Victoria assumed the title of the Empress of India. Later, when Edward VII succeeded Queen Victoria, the coins too that were issued bore his effigy.

In1906, the Indian Coinage Act was passed which governed the establishment of mints as well as the coins that would be issued and the standards that would be maintained that is the rupee weighing180 grains, silver standard being the 916.66; half rupee of 90 grains and quarter rupee of 45 grains.

Acute shortage of silver on account of World War I, led the British Government to issue paper currency of one rupee and two and a half Rupees. The silver coins of smaller denominations were issued in cupro-nickel during this period.
George V was in turn succeeded by Edward VIII but no coins were issued during his short reign. In 1936, George VI ascended the throne. The compulsion of the Second World War led to experiments in coinage where the standard rupee was replaced by the quaternary silver alloy.

The Quaternary Silver coins were issued from 1940. In 1947 these were replaced by pure Nickel coins. The existing coinage was continued as the frozen series till 26th of January 1950 when India became Republic. [Reference RBI India].