Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1/2 Karshapana - Saurasena Janapada
| Issuer | Surasena Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 400 BC - 300 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Silver |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Punch-marked obverse displaying a central elongated oval symbol, likely a fish or abstract device, flanked by additional punched symbols including geometric and linear marks distributed across the flat silver field. The surface bears the characteristic irregular texture of a hand-cut and punch-marked flan, with symbols applied by individual die punches. The design is rendered in the schematic, non-pictorial style typical of early Indian janapada coinage of the 4th–3rd century BC. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The Surasena janapada, centered on Mathura along the Yamuna, was among the sixteen mahajanapadas documented in early Buddhist and Jain texts. By the time this fractional piece was struck, the kingdom was already losing political ground to the expanding Magadha empire under the Nanda dynasty. Punch-marked silver of this region is notoriously difficult to attribute with precision — the punches themselves, applied by hammer across a cut blank, were used by multiple issuing authorities and frequently reused across generations.