1 Karshapana

The karshapana predates the Mauryan dynasty itself — punch-marked silver had circulated across the Indian subcontinent for at least two centuries before Chandragupta Maurya consolidated power around 321 BC. What changed under the Mauryas was administrative standardization, with the Arthashastra attributed to Kautilya prescribing precise weight tolerances and mandating state assay offices called lakshanaadhyakshas to regulate output.

The 3.23g ratti-based standard held with remarkable consistency across mints, enforced by a bureaucracy that punished counterfeiters with mutilation.