Photo: Pratishkhedekar · CC BY-SA 4.0The gold coin of the new Hindavi Swarajya, with the king’s name and title in Devanagari and no reference to any Mughal overlord.
One face reads “Sri Raja Shiva”, the other “Chhatrapati”. The copper shivrai paisa carried the same words and went on being struck by the Maratha state long after him.
Striking coin in his own name, in Sanskrit and Devanagari, was Shivaji’s public claim to sovereignty after his coronation.
CoinThe first coins of Bharat: small pieces of silver of a set weight, stamped one symbol at a time with separate punches.
CoinSilver coins of a Greek king of Bactria that carry the oldest known images of Balarama and Vasudeva-Krishna.
CoinGold coins of the Kushana emperors showing Shiva with his trident and Nandi, named in the Bactrian inscription as OESHO.
CoinLead and potin coins of the Satavahana king Yajna Sri Satakarni showing a two-masted ship.
CoinCopper coins of the Yaudheya republic of the Haryana plains, dedicated to Kartikeya and struck in the name of the gana, not of a king.
CoinA gold coin showing Chandragupta I with his Licchavi queen Kumaradevi, both named, with the word “Licchavayah” on the back.
CoinA gold dinar struck to mark Samudragupta’s horse sacrifice: the consecrated horse stands before the sacrificial post.
CoinThe gold coins of the Gupta emperors, which their own inscriptions call dinaras: portraits of kings as archers, horsemen and lion-slayers, with Lakshmi on the back.
