A lot of pictures get viral on social media sites, regarding historical facts, but in reality, those photos are baseless and misleading. A picture of a coin is getting viral on social media nowadays. The claim on this coin is from the year 1818 when the British rule in India. This ‘2 Anna’ coin has the mark of om and lotus flower.
Users who share this coin claim that before independence, coins were made from religious symbols in India. But after partition, coins with religious symbols has been over.
On Twitter, a user named ‘Queen of Jhansi’ shared a picture with the caption- “Why did religious coins stop forging after partition, Pakistan or India which become the Islamic nation?” (English Translation)
Source: Twitter
Meanwhile, many other users shared a similar picture with the caption- “During 1818 British rule, the coin of two annas was common, in which the court of Shri Ram Ji was on one side and the lotus flower, and lit lamp were carved on the other side. Doing so today will put the country in danger. How many will have chest pain? #Sanatan Dharma is at the top #Jai Siya Ram Ji.” (English Translation)
Source: Twitter
At the same time, many other users are sharing the same claim-
Source: Twitter
Source: Twitter
Source: Twitter
Source: Twitter
Source: Twitter
Fact check:
To know the reality of the viral coin, the DFRAC team first saw the archive of coins and notes on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) website. We saw the option of a currency museum on rbi’s website.
After clicking on currency museum, many options are unlocked. Since the claim was of British India in the year 1818, we clicked on the option of British India. After this, we saw the option of British India Coinage, Early Issues, William IV, Queen Victoria, Edward VII, George V and George VI. We took turns to see coins that were in the passage in India during all the British kings.
The DFRAC team verified the coins in circulation during the reign of all the kings available on the RBI website. We did not find the coin going viral anywhere.
We can see the list of coins on the RBI website-
More screenshots of the coins are given here-
Conclusion:
It is clear from the verification of the RBI website and their archives, DFRAC found that the coins with om and lotus flower symbols were not in circulation. Therefore, the claim made by social media users is misleading.
Claimed Reviewed: Coins with Hindu religious symbols used to run under British rule, stopped after partition
Claimed By: Social Media Users
Fact check: Misleading
