Catalog
Karshapana Punchmarked
| Issuer | Eran-Vidisha region |
|---|---|
| Year | 200 BC - 100 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Punchmarked |
| 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 | Obverse bearing multiple punchmarked symbols applied to an irregular square flan, including a probable elephant figure, a railed Indradhvaja (sacred post with crossbars) positioned centrally, a taurine symbol, and a six-armed geometric symbol. The devices are distributed across the field in the characteristic punchmarked technique, each symbol impressed individually into the copper surface. The overall surface exhibits the rough, uneven texture typical of cast or cut copper blanks from the Eran-Vidisha regional issue of the late Mauryan and post-Mauryan period. |
|---|---|
| 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 |
Eran and Vidisha were among the most commercially active towns of central India during the late Mauryan and post-Mauryan period, sitting along trade routes connecting the Gangetic plain to the western ports. Punchmarked coppers from this region circulated alongside silver karshapanas of imperial issue but served a distinctly local exchange function — smaller transactions, market tolls, and the kind of daily commerce that imperial silver rarely touched.
The symbols punched onto regional coppers like this one have resisted full decipherment; some are likely guild or merchant marks rather than royal authority stamps.