1 Karshapana - Ashoka Mathura mint

Ashoka's Mathura mint operated under the administrative reach of one of the empire's most strategically significant regional centers — Mathura served as a key node in the northern trade network connecting the Gangetic plain to the northwest frontier routes toward Bactria. Karshapanas of this period functioned as the backbone of commercial exchange across that system, not as royal prestige pieces.

The punch-marked technique used for these coins predates Ashoka by at least a century, inherited from earlier janapada coinage traditions. Mauryan imperial issues are distinguished from their predecessors primarily by the banker's marks — additional counter-punches applied at point of exchange — which complicate attribution to specific mints without die study.