Coins of the Wodeyars
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Coins of the Wodeyars were mostly minted in gold, copper and rarely, silver. Wodeyars issued variety of coins in gold silver and copper, and the most common device which can be seen in them was the elephant.
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The Wodeyars minted coins in gold, copper and rarely, silver. They had large mints at Srirangapattanam. The Wodeyar coins are similar to the Vijayanagara coins in size, shape, weight and it is often very difficult to differentiate a Wodeyar coin from a Vijayanagara coin.Many of the Wodeyar coins feature Hindu deities such as Lakshmi-Narasimha and Siva-Par van. The Wodeyar coins bear the name of the ruler in Nagari script. Several Hindu families preserve and worship the Wodeyar coins bearing figures of deities.
While Hyder Ali issued coins in gold and copper, Tipu Sultan minted coins in silver as well. All these coins are circular in shape. Although Hyder Ali was a Muslim ruler, he issued many coins featuring Hindu deities to please the Hindus who formed the majority in his kingdom. A popular gold coin of Hyder Ali shows Lord Siva with his consort Parvati seated on his left thigh.
The coins of Tipu Sultan exist in far greater variety and number that those of his father. Tipu issued coins from twelve major mints spread throughout South India. He accorded fanciful names to some of his mint-towns. For example, die mint-town of Gooty in Andhra was called Faiz Hisar or the 'fort of bounty.' Similarly, Satyamangalam near Coimbatore was called Salamabad or 'die city of peace'. French artisans and die-cutters were employed in some of these mints.
Many coins of Tipu Sultan feature the elephant in varied poses. The elephant is generally shown adorned with a shawl and anklets. On some coins, a flag is seen above the elephant. The flag features a star within a square. The coins of Tipu bear inscriptions indicating the mint and date of the coin.
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