Coinage with images of gods and goddesses

The Kushans, who hailed from the Central Asian region and ruled till 3rd century AD, were the first to use the image of Goddess Lakshmi on their coins, along with Ardochsho, the Iranic Goddess of wealth.
The Kushans also depicted Oesho (Shiva), moon deity Miro and Buddha in their coinage.

Vijayanagara kings used coinage with Hindu idols. Harihara –II (1377-1404) introduced coins that had Brahma-Saraswati, Vishnu-Lakshmi and Shiva-Parvati.
- The Vijayanagara coins continued in circulation even after the kingdom was snuffed out in 1565 and commanded a premium when French traveller Tavernier visited the region.
The British East India Co. at Madras Presidency minted coins labelled as the Three Swamy Pagoda, depicting Lord Balaji flanked by Sridevi and Bhudevi on either side.
The tradition of minting coins to win the confidence of local people continued when the French and Dutch minted coins showing Vishnu between 1715 and 1774 and Goddess Kali in the late 17th century.
Coins with Goddess Lakshmi were issued by Mohammed bin Sam (known as Mohammed Ghori after defeating Prithviraj Chauhan in the battle of Tarain in 1192 AD). This was done to show continuity.
Not all of the coins were freshly minted. Some of the coins were repurposed.

Visual elements on coins were fundamental to their acceptance and success as currency.

The Delhi Chief Minister wrote a letter to the Prime Minister demanding that the images of Hindu deities Laxmi and Ganesh be printed on Indian currency notes.

The Reserve Bank has the sole authority to issue banknotes in India. The Reserve Bank, like other central banks the world over, changes the design of banknotes from time to time.
In respect of coins, the role of RBI is limited to distribution of coins that are supplied by the Government of India.
The Government of India is responsible for the designing and minting of coins in various denominations as per the Coinage Act, 2011.
- Since the rupee coins issued by the Government constitute the liabilities of the Government, one rupee Note is also the liability of the Government of India.

In terms of Section 22 of the Act, the Reserve Bank has the sole right to issue banknotes in India. Section 25 states that the design, form and material of bank notes shall be such as may be approved by the Central Government after consideration of the recommendations made by the Central Board of RBI.

The first banknote issued by independent India was the one rupee note issued in 1949. While retaining the same designs the new banknotes were issued with the symbol of Lion Capital of Ashoka Pillar at Sarnath in the watermark window in place of the portrait of King George.
In the year 1970, banknotes with the legend “Satyameva Jayate”, i.e., truth alone shall prevail were introduced for the first time.
In 1987, ₹500, banknote was introduced with the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi and the Ashoka Pillar watermark.
The Reserve Bank has introduced banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi Series since 1996

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