Soolakie Public Deposited
The term Soolakie or Soolackie as applied to coins is explained by a letter to the Chief Secretary to the East Indian Government at Fort St. George, dated January 18th, 1813, wherein it is stated that "there are two modes of rendering coins Soolakie... The one is adopted for the most part by the petty village surrafs in those territories (the Nizam's) who, being in general very inexpert in ascertaining the fineness of the metal, invariably punch a hole in the rupee to convince themselves that it is good silver; but as this expedient is not sufficient to guard against the frauds of coiners, who frequently counterfeit rupees of copper covered with a coat of silver, with one or two such holes in them, it is usual for the surrafs, when they have the slightest suspicion that the metal is base, to punch a fresh hole in it. In consequence, it is by no means uncommon to see Rupees with eight or ten such marks indented upon them. The other kind of Soolakie coins are made so by the surrafs of large towns who undertake to shroff the money belonging to individuals for a certain percentage under an agreement to make good any coins that may afterwards turn out to be counterfeit. In order that the coins that have undergone such examination may be recognized, each principal surraf has a private stamp or mark of his own, which he affixes to the edge or some other part of the coin. The existence of one OP more such marks gives a sort of sand ion to the currency, as the credit of those who have put their stamp to it is a pledge for its goodness. Hence many rupees have forty or fifty such impressions, and at last become completely defaced. Neither of these modes of making' the Rupee Soolakic diminishes at all the weight of it, but, according to long custom, its value in exchange becomes greatly reduced when it is imported into the Company's territories." See Shroffed Money.
- Frey's Dictionary (American Journal of Numismatics, Vol. 50, 1916)