MUGHAL CURRENOY 175 current in those countries and very few be seen.' That which passes up and exchange under this rate is brass or which they call Flees, whereof three of them to down for copper money or thereabouts countervail a penny.
and so ?h;ck are made, put silver they are rateA at. Those pices are made so elastic as that the baser metal of which they to other uses, is wellnigh worth the Their silver coin is made round or square, but so thick as that it never breaks nor wears ont. They have pure some pieces of great value; but? ordinarily seen amongst them." gold coin likewise, these are not erv Money of account--Current mone?j--$tandard of value It should be xemembered that though the copper dam was the money of account there were c?trrent gold and silver coins of various denominations. There were rupees worth 38 dams in which officers were paid part of their salary. * Abul-Fazl ? says that the best coin of his time had 15 of gold to 1 of alloy and the worst coin 1 of gold to 15 of alloy. But no coin so base as the latter has come down to as. The value of the rupee differed with the amount of precious metal contained in it. Sir. T. Roe, (1615) and Chaplain Terry mention rupees of 2s. 3d., 2s. 6d., and 2s. 9d. In Streynsham Master's' time (1675-80) the newly coined ,$ikka rapee was at a pre- mium of 4 to 6 per cent. Aboutl 1697 ? Aurangzeb passed an order to the effect that rupees whose intrinsic value was less than As. 8 should pass current as full weight rnpees. Manncci that the shroffs and bankers were is careful to say loud in their pro- I Terry is not correct in this statement. Abul F?zl s?ys the of silver eoined w? the sooklt (= 1/20 Re.). Gladwin, op. cit., Ai?.-i-a?bari. (Otedwin I. st). . For regulst?ons about 'blanchrag' money and a?sessing eurr?ney nee ibid. Diade?of $trelO?ham Master Vol. I. p. ?tgS. -, Msrmeci: $1orio Do Mogor. lower piece p. $2. the aetn,?l
