1 Karshapana - Magadha Janapada

Among the earliest punch-marked coinages of the Indian subcontinent, Magadha's karshapanas predate the Mauryan imperial series and circulated during a period when the kingdom was consolidating control over the Gangetic plain — a process that would eventually produce the Mauryan Empire under Chandragupta around 321 BC. The coins were produced not by die-striking but by punch-marking: individual symbols applied sequentially with separate punches, which means no two pieces carry identical arrangements.

Attributing specific punch-marked pieces to Magadha as a janapada rather than the later imperial mint remains genuinely contested among specialists.