Beautiful, unique and extremely rare coins called the ''Ram-Siya'' coins, honouring the Hindu Gods, were issued by Mughal Emperor Akbar, in 1604-5 AD, despite the fact that worshipful admiration is denied in Islam. Akbar's long reign of almost 50 years (1556-1605 AD), allowed him to experiment with coinage and he took personal interest in designing and minting of his coins.
The coins depicting Ram and Sita were issued in both gold and silver, with minting ending right after Akbar's death in 1605 AD. The inscription shows Lord Ram, carrying his bow and arrows, and Sita, and it reads ''Ram Siya''. The inscription on the other side is a clue about its history, ''Amardad Ilahi 50'', meaning the 50th year of reign of Akbar,
Rupee, weight 5.39 gm, Agra mint, Dated Ilahi year 50 (AH 1013/4, AD 1604/5), ''Ilahi 50 Amardad'' in Persian in two lines surrounded by floral vine all within linear and pelleted border/ Lord Rama crowned and in Royal dress, standing right, holding arrow in right hand and bow in left, quiver over shoulder, behind Sita holding a lotus in each hand, ''Rama Siya'' in Devanagari across upper field.
Sources in the Archeological Survey of India state that these coins weren't issued in large numbers, and the stamping of these coins was probably influenced by the nearness of Raja Todarmal as the Royal Treasurer.
A three day numismatic meet (103rd Annual Conference of Numismatic Society of India (NSI)) was held at the Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad, in October 2021, attended by participants from across the country. One of the papers submitted was about these coins. The NSI chairman moderated the paper presentations, lectures and discussions.
Just three such coins remain today, one gold and two silver. Walker's Fine Art & Estate Auctioneers in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, last offered the only known gold coin in an auction in 2019 and was sold for CAD 491,400 plus 20 % buyer's premium on 11/12/2019. Image Source: walkersauctions.com
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