Numismatics Questions and Answers

Answer: D

A crescent is a type of geometric microlith, cut to a curved shape and set into a handle or shaft as part of a tool. As it was fixed with other pieces in a haft, it is a composite tool.

The Clactonian, Abbevillian and Acheulian are named industries of the Lower Palaeolithic, made of single pieces of stone. A crescent is a Mesolithic form, so it belongs to none of them.

A hafted tool means a stone piece fixed in a handle of bone or wood, so a crescent used in this way is a composite tool. It is a Mesolithic type, small in size, which separates it from the large core tools named in the other options.

Answer: C

The Gupta gold coins were issued in the sequence King and Queen type, Standard bearer type, Chakravikrama type and Apratigha type, so (iii), (ii), (iv), (i).

The King and Queen type belongs to Chandragupta I, the Standard type to Samudragupta, the Chakravikrama type to Chandragupta II and the Apratigha type to Kumaragupta I, as the official key has it.

Options A, B and D start with the Chakravikrama, Apratigha or Standard types, which were not the first issues.

Answer: B

The Apratigha type of coin was issued by Kumaragupta I. Among the Gupta gold coin types, the Apratigha type is attributed to Kumaragupta I, whose long reign produced many types. Kumaragupta II, Skandagupta and Buddhagupta also issued coins, but the Apratigha type is not credited to them, so Kumaragupta I is the answer. Kumaragupta I, who ruled in the first half of the fifth century, had a long reign and issued a large variety of gold types, among them the archer, horseman, lion slayer, elephant rider and Apratigha types. Skandagupta, his son, continued the archer type, and Buddhagupta was a later king, so only Kumaragupta I is given.

Answer: B

The key accepts both statements as correct. Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya) conquered the western Kshatrapa kingdom of Malwa and Gujarat and issued silver coins for circulation in western India, in the older Kshatrapa style, so the assertion is true. The reason, that the issue was meant to win the confidence of the new subjects who were used to silver coinage, is accepted by the key as a correct statement. Options 1 and 3 call one or both statements false, and option 4 adds that R does not explain A, which the key does not accept, so option 2 is the answer.

Answer: A

Both statements are true. The Indo-Greek kings put Greek gods such as Zeus, Athena, Apollo and Herakles on their coins, so the assertion holds, and they did so in order to spread the Greek pantheon among their subjects, which is the stated reason and is accepted by the key. Option 2 says R is true but A is false, option 3 says both are false, and option 4 says A is true but R is false, and all three contradict the key, so option 1 is correct.

Answer: C

The correct match is a-iv, b-iii, c-ii, d-i. The Krishna-Balarama type coins were issued by the Indo-Greek king Agathocles, the Chakravikrama type coins by Chandragupta II, the Lute Player type by Samudragupta, and the Adi-Varaha type by Mihirbhoja. The other codes mismatch at least two of the pairs, so option 3 is the answer. Agathocles is the Indo-Greek king whose coins show Krishna-Balarama figures, and the Lute Player coins are those of Samudragupta, who is shown playing the vina. Chandragupta II issued the Chakravikrama type, and the Adi-Varaha type is linked with Mihirbhoja, the Gurjara-Pratihara king. Therefore iv, iii, ii, i is the only code that fits.