Soon after Independence, India adopted the ‘lion capital’ of Mauryan emperor Ashoka the Great as its national emblem. Beginning August 15, 1950, this replaced the British monarch on all Indian coins. The year 2025 thus marks the 75th anniversary of the Indian Rupee as the currency of independent India.

Yet the rupee’s story stretches centuries earlier, mirroring the commerce, conquests and cultures of the subcontinent. The first rupee coin — a silver denomination — was introduced by Sher Shah Suri. Bearing the Islamic year 945 (June 1538-May 1539), it was likely struck in Bihar. The coin carried an innovation: the legend “May Allah perpetuate his kingdom”, along with Sher Shah’s name rendered in both Arabic and Devanagari.

The word Rupiyah itself appeared for the first time during the 47

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