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1 Karshapana - Samprati
| Issuer | Mauryan Empire (India (ancient)) |
|---|---|
| Year | 216 BC - 207 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Five punch-marked symbols applied individually to the flat silver field of this irregular rectangular flan, comprising a solar symbol, a six-armed geometric device, a triple-arched hill surmounted by a crescent, a branched plant motif, and a humped zebu (Brahman bull). The punches are characteristic of the imperial Mauryan series and are distributed across the flan, though all marks are partially off-flan due to the small size of the blank relative to the punch grouping. The surface shows the typical coarse, hammered texture of punch-marked coinage, with no inscription or legend. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | ND (216 BC - 207 BC) |
| Additional information |
Samprati ruled as the last effective Mauryan emperor before the dynasty's rapid collapse, traditionally associated in Jain sources with the propagation of Jainism across the subcontinent — a religious affiliation that sets him apart sharply from his grandfather Ashoka's Buddhism. His reign coincides almost exactly with the years Hannibal was crossing the Alps, a useful chronological anchor for a coinage that feels far older than Rome's contemporaneous issues.
The punch-marked technique used for this karshapana predates the Mauryan dynasty itself, inherited from earlier janapada coinages and never substantially reformed. GH#574 places this squarely within the late imperial series distinguished by the five-punch obverse arrangement specific to the Pataliputra mint authority.