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1/2 Vimshatika - Kosala Janapada
| Issuer | Kosala Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 450 BC - 350 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 2.64 g |
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| Obverse description | Punch-marked field bearing a group of standard Janapada symbols: an S-shaped or curved symbol in the upper left, a six-armed star or asterisk device in the central field, an elephant facing left rendered in stylized relief, and a taurine symbol enclosed within a rectangular border. The symbols are deeply impressed into the irregular silver flan using multiple punches, characteristic of the punch-marked coinage tradition of the Kosala Mahajanapada. No legend or inscription is present; the design is composed entirely of symbolic pictorial devices. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | ND (450 BC - 350 BC) |
| Additional information |
The Kosala janapada punched-silver series predates Mauryan standardization by well over a century, issued by one of the sixteen mahajanapadas that dominated the Gangetic plain during the late Vedic period. Kosala's political significance was considerable — it controlled Shravasti and Ayodhya, and its kings feature prominently in both Buddhist and Jain canonical texts as contemporaries of Gautama Buddha himself. The kingdom was absorbed by Magadha sometime in the 4th century BC, which effectively ended independent Kosalan coinage.