Dam (Indian coin)

A dam was a small Indian copper coin. The coin was first introduced by Sher Shah Suri during his rule of India between 1540 and 1545, along with Mohur, the gold coin and Rupiya the silver coin.^[1] Later on, the Mughal Emperors standardised the coin along with other silver (Rupiya) and gold (Mohur) coins in order to consolidate the monetary system across India. A rupee was divided into 40 dams.

It is believed that this coin is one of the possible sources for the English word "damn", due to its small worth.^[2]

References

^ Mughal Coinage Archived 2008-05-16 at the Wayback Machine at RBI Monetary Museum. Retrieved on 4 May 2008.
^ Gorrell, Robert, Watch Your Language: Mother Tongue and Her Wayward Children, University of Nevada Press, 1994. Watch Your Language at Google Books

[1] Mughal Coinage Archived 2008-05-16 at the Wayback Machine at RBI Monetary Museum. Retrieved on 4 May 2008.

[2] Gorrell, Robert, Watch Your Language: Mother Tongue and Her Wayward Children, University of Nevada Press, 1994. Watch Your Language at Google Books

[1]

[2]

v t e Historic currencies of India
Overview	History of the rupee Coinage of India Coinage of Asia
Ancient and medieval	Punch-marked coins Arched-hill symbol Post-Mauryan coinage (Gandhara) Narwar coinage Kushan coinage Indo-Sasanian coinage Indo-Greek coinage Pallava coinage Pandya coinage Vijayanagara coinage Setu coins
Near modern	British Indian coinage Dutch Indian coinage Hyderabadi rupee Travancore Rupee Kutch kori (Banknotes of Kutch) Danish Indian rupee French Indian rupee Portuguese Indian rupia Portuguese Indian escudo Banknote of Ambliara Indian postal orders in Egypt
Modern	Indian rupee (Gulf rupee) Pakistani rupee Sri Lankan rupee Nepalese rupee Bhutanese ngultrum Maldivian rufiyaa
Denomination	Paisa Indian pie Taka Anna Mohur Ashrafi Cash Dam Cowrie Dinar Larin Tola Masha Pagoda Karshapana Shivrai Madras fanam Travancore fanam
See also: Economy of India Economy of Pakistan

See also

References