Catalog
1 Karshapana
| Issuer | Chedi Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 400 BC - 300 BC |
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| Value | 1 Karshapana |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Irregular flat silver flan bearing multiple punch-marked symbols applied in the characteristic janapada style. The obverse displays several banker's marks and symbolic devices, including what appear to be sun symbols, geometric forms, and abstract animal or floral motifs, each individually punched into the surface of the flan. The symbols are distributed across the field without a fixed arrangement, typical of the punch-marked coinage tradition of the Gangetic plain during the Mahajanapada period. The surface exhibits natural flow lines and irregular edges consistent with the hand-cut flan preparation technique of the era. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse presents a largely plain, unworked silver surface with natural patination and toning ranging from warm brown to grey, consistent with ancient burial or soil deposit conditions. Faint residual impressions from the punching process may be visible as die-sink shadows on the reverse face. The absence of deliberate reverse design is characteristic of early Indian punch-marked coinage, where the reverse was left uninscribed and undecorated. The irregular flan edge and surface texture confirm hand production without the use of a collar or standardized mold. |
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| Additional information |
The Chedi Kingdom, centered around the Yamuna-Betwa doab in what is now Madhya Pradesh, was among the sixteen Mahajanapadas — the great republics and monarchies catalogued in early Buddhist and Jain texts. Karshapanas from this region are punch-marked with symbols whose attribution to specific issuing kingdoms remains contested among scholars; assignment to Chedi relies on die-pattern clustering and find-spot analysis rather than any explicit inscription.
No Chedi monarch names these coins. That anonymity is the rule, not the exception, for the period.