Catalog
1 Karshapana - Magadha approximately 285-180 BC
| Issuer | Mauryan Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 285 BC - 180 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | ACR#99 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain, unworked flan with no primary design, characteristic of Mauryan punch-marked silver karshapanas. The surface may bear one or more small secondary banker's marks or countermarks, applied as test or validation punches by merchants or money-changers in circulation. |
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| Mintage | ND (285 BC - 180 BC) |
| Additional information |
The Mauryan karshapana is among the earliest punch-marked coinage produced at anything resembling imperial scale. Under Ashoka and his successors, standardized silver punch-marked pieces circulated across a subcontinent-spanning administrative network — the same infrastructure documented in the Arthashastra, Kautilya's treatise on statecraft, which specifies mint regulations, assay procedures, and penalties for currency fraud in remarkable bureaucratic detail.
Authentication is the persistent challenge with this series. Forgeries and cast replicas have circulated among collectors for decades, and the punch sequences themselves remain only partially decoded by scholars.