1/4 Karshapana - Sunga Dynasty

The Shunga dynasty came to power when Pushyamitra Shunga, commander-in-chief of the Mauryan army, assassinated the last Mauryan emperor Brihadratha during a military parade around 185 BC. The empire he founded issued punch-marked and cast copper coinage continuing older traditions, with little administrative urgency to distinguish the new regime's currency from what preceded it — a practical decision that makes precise attribution of individual pieces genuinely difficult across the 112-year dynasty.