Lectures on Ancient Indian Numismatics (Carmichael Lectures, 1921) c9.8

c9.8

It will thus be seen that *Rūpa* had been recognised to be a science of coinage in ancient India. That it was looked upon as a science is clear, I think, from the fact that Buddhaghosha, while commenting on the passage from the *Mahāvagga* adverted to above, speaks of it as *Rūpa-sutta* which can only mean a set of rules concerning coins, in other words, the science of coinage. It was studied as we have seen by an ordinary individual for pursuing a profession to enable him to turn either a Rūpadarśaka, Lakshaṇādhyaksha or Sauvarṇika. It was also a subject of serious study to a prince to make him fit for administration. *Rūpa* must, therefore, have been a science of coins which dealt with this subject, not only from the minter’s and assayer’s but also from the economist’s and administrator’s point of view.