A Source of Reconstructing Past

Study of Coinage.

- Stuti Mishra

The past, like the present, is complex and can be looked at from many perspectives. There can never be a single, final, perfect history. There can never be a complete or exact picture of what happened in the past; the task of the historian is to bring us as close as possible to such a picture. Historical analysis involves carefully examining the available sources of information, searching for fresh evidence, and devising creative, innovative ways of interpreting historical data. Hence all historical interpretations are ultimately based on evidence derived from the sources of history, conventionally divided into two categories – literary and archaeological . From historian's point of view, literary sources include all texts- long and short, written or oral; archaeological sources include all tangible, material remains . These material remains can be used to reconstruct history and can be seen as windows to the past. Study of Coinage (called Numismatics) is one such section which holds a lot of significance as a source of understanding our history.

In modern times, money functions as a medium of exchange, a store of value, a unit of accounts, and a medium of deferred payment. In the most general sense, money is any item that is accepted by a community for the exchange of goods or services or for the discharge of debt. Currency and coinage are more specific terms. Currency is a medium of exchange backed by an issuing authority, one that can be used to immediately discharge any kind of financial obligation. Coinage is metal currency. It has definite size, shape, and weight standard, and bears the stamp of any issuing authority. In the world context, the earliest coins in Lydia in West Asia in c 700 BCE and were made of alloy of gold and silver.