1 Karshapana

The karshapana predates the Mauryan Empire itself — these punch-marked pieces were already circulating across the Gangetic plain well before Chandragupta Maurya consolidated power around 322 BC. What the Mauryas did was standardize the weight to the approximately 3.4g ratti-based system, bringing monetary uniformity across a subcontinent for the first time. Kautilya's Arthashastra, the period's administrative treatise, specifies assay procedures and penalties for debasing silver that suggest a surprisingly sophisticated mint oversight apparatus.

Attribution to specific Mauryan reigns remains genuinely difficult — the punches identify issuing authority by symbol, not by ruler name.