Muhammad bin Tughlaq, a ruler of the Delhi Sultanate in the 14th century, attempted to introduce token currency as a means of stabilizing the economy. However, his experiment was unsuccessful primarily due to the large-scale minting of spurious coins.
Option 1 states that foreign merchants rejected the token coins, but there is no mention of this in historical accounts. So, it is not a factor contributing to the failure of the experiment.
Option 2 suggests that there was a shortage of copper for minting the token coins. While copper scarcity may have been a challenge, it is not the main reason for the failure of the experiment.
Option 4 claims that poor quality of the token currency led to its failure. While the quality of the coins may have been a concern, it is not the primary factor.
The large-scale minting of spurious coins, which were fake or counterfeit, caused a loss of faith in the token currency. The prevalence of fake coins undermined confidence in the new system and led to its failure.
In conclusion, the correct answer is option 3, as the large-scale minting of spurious coins played a significant role in the failure of Muhammad bin Tughlaq`s experiment with token currency.