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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 |
| Weight | 3 g |
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| Obverse description | Five punch-marked symbols applied to the flat silver flan, characteristic of Mauryan imperial coinage. To the upper centre, a radiate sun symbol with multiple rays; to the left, a rightward-facing elephant in profile with detailed legs. At centre, a humped bull (zebu) facing right; to the upper right, a six-armed symbol (symbol of Ujjain type) with taurine (circle-and-crescent) devices at the terminals of each arm. A chaitya (three-arched hill) symbol also appears among the devices, all punches applied in an irregular arrangement across the field. |
|---|---|
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| 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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| 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.