Administrative System of the Marathas c18.s25.29

c18.s25.29

The inevitable corollary of this system was private minting; not free but licensed. For this license, the Sonar (the owner of private mints was usually a Sonar or Goldsmith) had to pay some royalty to the government which varied in different cases. But the license-holder had to stipulate for keeping up the standard proportion in the alloy and the purity of the metal used for coining purposes. A breach of this contract meant fine or forfeiture of the license. Even a random quotation of a document bearing on mints will illustrate the principle well.