Lead and potin coins, some of them bearing the figure of a two-masted ship, were characteristic of which dynasty?
- A.The Kushanas
- B.The Satavahanas
- C.The Indo-Greeks
- D.The Western Kshatrapas
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, the Satavahanas. The Satavahanas of the Deccan issued coins mainly in lead and in potin, an alloy of copper with tin, lead and zinc, and some of their issues carry a two-masted ship, which historians read as evidence of their sea-borne trade on the eastern coast. Option A is wrong because the Kushanas are known for their abundant gold, Vima Kadphises being the first of them to strike it and Kanishka's coins carrying the Buddha. Option C is wrong because the Indo-Greeks struck fine silver and the first gold coins of India, with bilingual legends in Greek and Kharosthi. Option D is wrong because the Western Kshatrapas issued chiefly silver coins. Fix lead and potin with the Satavahanas and the ship motif with their trade.
Read the full article: Coins and Currency in Indian History: Exam Notes
Practice Questions
View allThe earliest coins of India, stamped with separate symbols and carrying no legend, are known as
- A.Punch-marked coins
- B.Dinara coins
- C.Jital coins
- D.Potin coins
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These are the oldest Indian coins, mostly silver pieces cut into irregular shapes and impressed with symbols punched one at a time, such as the sun, a six-armed wheel, hills, trees and animals.
Read the full explanation →The silver tanka and the copper jital were introduced in India by which ruler?
- A.Qutb-ud-din Aibak
- B.Iltutmish
- C.Alauddin Khalji
- D.Firoz Shah Tughlaq
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Iltutmish gave the Delhi Sultanate its standard coinage by issuing the silver tanka and the copper jital, with purely Arabic legends and the name of the mint, and this pair remained the basis of Sultanate currency.
Read the full explanation →The token currency of brass and copper, made legal tender at the value of silver, was issued by
- A.Balban
- B.Muhammad bin Tughlaq
- C.Sikandar Lodi
- D.Akbar
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In 1329 or 1330 he issued brass and copper tokens declared to be worth a silver tanka.
Read the full explanation →The silver coin called rupiya, the ancestor of the modern Indian rupee, was first issued by
- A.Sher Shah Suri
- B.Humayun
- C.Akbar
- D.Jahangir
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As part of his reform of the currency he issued a silver coin of about one hundred and seventy-eight grains called the rupiya, together with a copper dam and a gold mohur, and fixed their rates of exchange.
Read the full explanation →Coins bearing the twelve signs of the zodiac were issued by which Mughal emperor?
- A.Akbar
- B.Jahangir
- C.Shah Jahan
- D.Aurangzeb
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Jahangir struck a celebrated series of gold and silver coins showing the twelve signs of the zodiac, and another series carrying his own portrait, which is unusual in Islamic coinage; he also issued coins in the name of Nur Jahan.
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