Fanams are so small in size that most people are amazed that such coins were ever introduced. It is difficult to manage them, and it is more easy to lose them than hold on to them.
Pictures: Travancore Silver fanams, shown above a cenitmeter scale and below and Indian one rupee (modern) coin to give an idea of how small they were
Several reasons have been suggested for the small size, and perhaps all of them are right. One is the importance of gold in the Indian society. Giving gold to friends, relatives, and to the priests were practices embedded into the Indian fiber. However, this would be an impossible task for most people in society, seeing gold was always costly. It has been proposed that tiny coins made of gold would fulfill such a need in an ideal manner.
