Fact Check: East India Company did not issue any coin with Hindu gods’ images, viral claim is fake

New Delhi (Vishvas News): A Facebook post is claiming that coins carrying images of Lord Ram, Sita and Hanuman were “issued during the East India Company regime” before India’s independence. However, Vishvas News found in its investigation that these are dummy coins made for foreign tourists and have no connection with the pre-independence era. These are also available for purchase on different e-commerce websites.

Claim: 

The Facebook user ‘Nishith Sharma’ shared a viral post (archive link) which claimed: “One Anna Coin was released by East India Company in 1839. To get surprised, one has to see the other side of the coin. It is the rare portrait of Sri Rama Pattabhishekam collected from AYODHYA.”

The claim that before India’s Independence in 1947, the British also used to give respect to Lord Ram was also shared widely on WhatsApp groups.

Note: The images below are making a false claim:

Investigation

Vishvas News first checked the coinage history on the official Reserve Bank of India website and found the below images:

We first went to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) website, where we found no record of any copper coins or other such material with Hindu deities’ images. All coins issued by the RBI and their history are listed here.

Vishvas News also performed a Google reverse image search of the keyframes of the viral post using the InVid tool. We found an e-commerce website, which was selling many such dummy coins. These coins depicting Hindu gods were recently manufactured for sale to foreign tourists and are available for purchase on several e-commerce websites.

On being contacted, numismatist Tejas Shah said, “These are all fake coins. Basically, these are not coins but tokens. These were never minted by East India Company but recently made and sold to foreigners near railway stations of major metro cities with false pieces of information.”

To verify further, Vishvas News approached Mumbai-based numismatist and expert Siddharth Shah, who confirmed, “This is fake information and 100% fake coins. It is a temple token minted privately for emotional collection purposes only.”

Dr Jappen Oberoi, a Chandigarh-based epigraphist and Numismatist validated the claim by adding, “East India Company has never issued an official coin that contained portraits of Indian gods and goddesses.”

The Facebook user who shared the viral claim identifies himself as a digital creator and has around 6,100 followers.