Note 300 — Chapter V
Reading edition
It is difficult to understand why some writers on Indian currency do not like to admit this fact. Cf. the discussion on Mr. Madan's paper at the annual meeting of the Indian Economic Association (Indian Journal of Economics, Vol. III, Part 4, Serial No. 12, p. 560). It is true the debasement of the rupee is not so obvious as it would have been had it taken the form of continuing the weight and making it baser, or of preserving the same fineness and making it lighter. But, as Harris points out in his Essay upon Money and Coins (Part II, Chap. I, par. 8), the “altering the denominations of the coins, without making any alteration at the Mint or in the coins themselves,” “as supposing ninepence, or as much silver as there is in ninepence, should be called a shilling,” is a mode of debasement not different from that of the rupee, and is virtually the same as the other two modes of debasement. So viewed it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the rupee is & debased coin.