The History of Bengal (Vol. I: Hindu Period; Vol. II: Muslim Period 1200–1757) v1.c19.s9.13

v1.c19.s9.13

But this raises an intricate problem as to the rate of exchange between gold and silver in Eastern India about the middle of the 5th century A.D. It is not difficult to estimate the ratio of the two metals, if the weight of the gold and silver coins is definitely known. Extant specimens of the gold and silver coins of Kumāragupta, to whose reign the Baigrām Plate has to be assigned, show that the former varied in weight from 117.8 to 127.3 grains and the latter from 22.8 to 36.² grains. Taking the mean in each case, say 122 grains as the average weight of gold coins and 30 grains as the average weight of silver coins, and leaving out of consideration the percentage of alloy used in either case (of which there is no definite information), we have the formula of 480 grains of silver as equivalent to 122 of gold, and the relation between these numbers is approximately 4 to 1. Even if we take the view that the silver coins, which circulated in Eastern India, weighed 36 grains, the ratio of gold and silver would work out at 1:4.6.