Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Karshapana - Magadh
| Issuer | Mauryan Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 321 BC - 185 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 | Punch-marked |
| 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 | Irregular silver flan bearing multiple royal punch-marked symbols applied across the field, characteristic of Mauryan imperial coinage. Visible symbols include a six-armed sun symbol with radiating points at upper center, a caduceus-like or taurine symbol to the left, a hill or arched symbol to the lower left, and an elephant or animal motif to the right. Additional smaller banker's or secondary punch marks appear in the lower field. All devices are incuse, impressed individually by separate punches onto the flat silver surface, with no border or legend. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Predominantly plain silver field with a single small incuse punch mark visible near the center of the flan, displaying a floral or quatrefoil-like symbol typical of a banker's or secondary countermark. The surface is otherwise flat and unadorned, consistent with standard Mauryan punch-marked coinage practice where the reverse bears minimal or incidental marking. The flan shows natural irregular edges resulting from the hand-cut silver sheet preparation method. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The karshapana was not minted in any modern sense — these were punch-marked pieces, with each symbol applied by a separate punch, sometimes across multiple administrative sessions. The Mauryan state inherited and expanded an existing punch-mark tradition from earlier Magadha coinage, but under Chandragupta and his successors the system became increasingly standardized, likely to support the vast logistical demands of an empire stretching from the Indus to Bengal. Kautilya's Arthashastra explicitly details the office of the mint master and prescribes penalties for adulteration.
The Mitchiner range cited here spans nearly the entire dynasty — attribution to a specific reign is rarely possible without die study.