The karshapana predates the Mauryan Empire itself — punch-marked silver had been circulating across the Gangetic plain since at least the 6th century BC — but under Chandragupta and his successors the coinage was systematized into a recognizable imperial type. The punches were applied sequentially by multiple officials, a process that served as a rudimentary authentication chain across a vast administrative territory described in detail by Kautilya's Arthashastra.
Mitchiner's ACW range 4090-4100 covers considerable chronological spread, and attribution to a specific reign within the dynasty remains difficult without die study and find-spot data.
The karshapana predates the Mauryan Empire itself — punch-marked silver had been circulating across the Gangetic plain since at least the 6th century BC — but under Chandragupta and his successors the coinage was systematized into a recognizable imperial type. The punches were applied sequentially by multiple officials, a process that served as a rudimentary authentication chain across a vast administrative territory described in detail by Kautilya's Arthashastra.
Mitchiner's ACW range 4090-4100 covers considerable chronological spread, and attribution to a specific reign within the dynasty remains difficult without die study and find-spot data.