Considering the vital importance of coins as a source for our history and realising the fact that numismatics has rather been neglected in the archaeological studies in our country, INHCRF established the Indian Institute of Research in Numismatic Studies (IIRNS) in 1984 with the main objective of aiding and promoting studies and research in Indian numismatic studies. This was the first and continues to be the only Institute in the country exclusively devoted to Indian Numismatics.