Abdur Rahman gave his closest attention to the revenue. One of his earliest acts was to replace by tokens of his own the currency which had existed under the Khans. Hitherto, the money in circulation in Afghanistan had been represented by three varieties of rupees—the Herat, the Kandahar and the Kabul which, although not really of identical value, were reckoned at ten shahis. No gold tokens had been struck by any of the dynasties reigning in the State, and the gold coins which passed in the country were represented by the ducat of Russia, the tilla of Bokhara and the toman of Persia. These coins had been imported in the natural course of trade; but by a strange coincidence the Persian token suffered a discount, while the Russian and Bokharan coins enjoyed a premium of 10 per cent. There were certain silver coins, also, which had been introduced by merchants from beyond the borders. Among these were the silver kran from Persia and the silver rupee from India, equally liable to the vagaries of exchange. In detail, the currency of Afghanistan was as follows:

200 dinars= 1 abbassi.
500 dinars or 10 shahis= 1 rupee kham.
600 dinars or 12 shahis= 1 rupee silver.
 20 rupees kham= 1 toman (about £2).

The dinar, the rupee kham and the toman figured, in the main, in accounts, the table of the coins actually in circulation being as follows:

3-5 pice (copper)= 1 shahi (silver).
 2 shahis (silver)= 1 abbassi (silver).
 2 abbassis (silver)= 1 jindek Herat (silver).
 3 jindeks (silver)= 1 rupee Kandahar (silver).
 2 rupees Kandahar (silver)= 1 rupee Kabul (silver).
 1 jindek= 4d.
 1 rupee Kandahar= 1s.
 1 rupee Kabul= 2s.

In order to re-establish the currency of the country upon a sound basis Abdur Rahman opened a mint in Kabul. At the same time he re-organised the methods of revenue collection, besides improving the channels through which it was received.

The work of the mint was at first conducted by hand. It was not until some years after he had ascended the throne that the late Amir introduced minting machinery, at the same time requesting the Government of India to loan the services of an Englishman to superintend its erection. The official thus despatched was Mr. McDermot, employed in the Calcutta mint; and under his supervision Kabuli workmen learnt to cut the dies, to erect the stamps and to strike off the coins. The capacity of the plant which was erected in Kabul was limited to a silver and copper mintage of 100,000 coins a day, made up of five and ten pice pieces, rupees, half-rupees and third-rupees. In contradistinction to the rupees which had previously been struck off at Kabul, each new rupee was worth only one shilling. These coins bore upon their faces the inscription—a translation of a title conferred upon Abdur Rahman by his people in 1896—“The Light of the Nation and of Religion”; the reverse side bore his coat-of-arms. Until this superscription was adopted, coins were engraved only with the date and place of casting upon one side, and upon the reverse the name of the ruler—“Cast at the Capital of Kabul: Amir Abdur Rahman.” Since Habib Ullah’s accession Abdur Rahman’s coinage has been superseded by a new issue bearing in Turkish characters the inscription “Amir Habib Ullah Khan, Amir of Kabul, The Seeker of God’s help.” The engraving on the obverse represents a mosque with pulpit and minarets, encircled by rifles, standards, swords and cannon. Habib Ullah’s coins are of lower standard to the previous issue; actual exchange against Indian currency being:

R. A. P.
1 Kabuli rupee = 0 7 9
and
1 Kandahari rupee = 0 4 6

The Amir’s officials in levying duties maintain an arbitrary and wholly fictitious rate of exchange under which

Indian.
R. A. P.
1 Kabuli rupee = 0 13 4
and
1 Kandahari rupee = 0 8 0

The income of Afghanistan has always been subject to serious fluctuation. In 1839, at a moment when Kandahar, Herat, and Kabul were separate territories, and there were ten rupees to the pound sterling, the proceeds from each State were: