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1/4 Karshapana - Sunga Dynasty
| Issuer | Shunga Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 300 BC - 100 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 12.22 mm |
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| Obverse description | Elephant walking right with a mahout (rider) seated atop, depicted in a schematic, archaic style characteristic of early Indian coinage. The rider is rendered in low relief with a globular head, positioned centrally on the animal's back. The elephant's body is crudely but expressively formed, with its legs and trunk visible in the field. The flan is irregular with a protruding flange to the right, and the surfaces show the characteristic rough texture of cast copper coinage of the period. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A chaitya symbol rendered as three arched hills or domed mounds in a row, representing a sacred Buddhist or Hindu shrine, surmounted by a crescent moon above the central arch. The design is executed in low relief in the schematic, emblematic style typical of Shunga-period cast copper coinage. The motif occupies the central field of the irregular flan. No legends or additional symbols are present. The surface is rough and uneven, consistent with the cast technique employed. |
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| Additional information |
The Shungas came to power in 185 BC when Pushyamitra Shunga, a Brahmin general, assassinated the last Mauryan emperor Brihadratha during a military review — one of the more brazenly public coups in ancient Indian history. Their coinage continued the punch-marked tradition inherited from the Mauryas, a system in which multiple dies were applied sequentially rather than struck simultaneously, making exact die attribution for fractional denominations like this quarter unit genuinely difficult. Mitchiner's AC#4370 grouping covers a wide chronological spread, and individual attribution within it remains contested among specialists.