Potin unit - Kadambas of Banavasi

The Kadambas of Banavasi are among the earliest dynasties of the Deccan to issue their own coinage, a practice that itself signals the consolidation of regional authority independent of the Guptas to the north. These potin pieces — a debased alloy of copper, tin, and lead — circulated in the Western Ghats region during a period when the dynasty controlled important trade routes between the coast and the interior plateau. At 0.18 grams, this is fractional even by the modest standards of early medieval Indian copper issues.