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The history of Indian coinage stretches back at least 2600 years. Several dynasties have come and gone, as have rulers like Alexander the Great, the British, the Portuguese and the Dutch, leaving an intricate trail of coinage behind.
Indian Coinages EC562. Kidarites, Anonymous, Kidara type, ca early 5th Century AD, AV Stater (7.8g). King standing left/Enthroned goddess, MACW3695ff.
Ancient Indian coinage was based on `Karshapana' unit that consists of 32 rattis (3.3 grams of silver). A `Ratti' is equivalent to 0.11 gms which is the average weight of a Gunja seed (a bright scarlet colored seed).
Sharif, in his book "Hundred Years of Indian Coinage", presents a good argument against this theory. An old theory of the Indian public was that these dots indicated forgeries. Others suggest that mint workers applied the dots with broken nails! ...
See also: Coinage, Silver, Kushan, Half, Gold
 
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