1 Hoan - Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

The hona (or hon) was the primary gold coinage of the Maratha Empire, but silver fractions circulated alongside it for smaller transactions. Shivaji's mint operations were formalized following his sack of Surat in 1664 — the same year as this issue — when the enormous plunder he seized from one of the Mughal Empire's wealthiest trading ports gave him both the bullion and the political confidence to assert an independent coinage. Issuing one's own currency was an explicit rejection of Mughal monetary authority.

Shivaji would not formally receive the title Chhatrapati until his coronation at Raigad in 1674.