Early coins of India
Around 600 B.C.E., India had many prosperous small kingdoms trading with each other and outside kingdoms. This period is referred in the literature of indian history as "Early kingdoms". During this time, quality and weight of silver bullion was standardized to reduce the inconvenience of weighing the silver bullion for every transaction. As mentioned earlier, there is only circumstantial evidence for independent invention of coins in India. It comes from the writers of indian literature during 5th and 4th century BCE and standardization of weight measurements for coins based on different system.
Panini, Sanskrit grammarian ( c500 BCE) in his treatise Astdhyayi wrote about coins and various fractions suggesting that the concept of coins existed prior to 500 BCE. He mentioned Satamanas (sata= 100, manas = units) and Karshapana ( subfraction). Each unit was called "Ratti" weighing 0.11 grams. Ratti was average weight of a Gunja seed (a bright red seed with a black tip - see the picture below).
The first coins in India were minted around the 6th century BC by the Mahajanapadas of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, and certainly before the invasion of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC. The coins of this period were punch marked coins called Puranas, Karshapanas or Pana. Several of these coins had a single symbol, for example, Saurashtra had a humped bull, and Dakshin Panchala had a Swastika, others, like Magadha, had several symbols. These coins were made of silver of a standard weight but with an irregular shape. This was gained by cutting up silver bars and then making the correct weight by cutting the edges of the coin. They are mentioned in the Manu, Panini, and Buddhist Jataka stories and lasted three centuries longer in the south than the north 600BCE-300CE".
FEW OF THE MAGADHA AND MAURYAN PUNCH MARK COINS IN MY COLLECTION
SOME COMMON SYMBOLS ON PUNCH MARK COINS:
Around 600 B.C.E., India had many prosperous small kingdoms trading with each other and outside kingdoms. This period is referred in the literature of indian history as "Early kingdoms". During this time, quality and weight of silver bullion was standardized to reduce the inconvenience of weighing the silver bullion for every transaction. As mentioned earlier, there is only circumstantial evidence for independent invention of coins in India. It comes from the writers of indian literature during 5th and 4th century BCE and standardization of weight measurements for coins based on different system.
Panini, Sanskrit grammarian ( c500 BCE) in his treatise Astdhyayi wrote about coins and various fractions suggesting that the concept of coins existed prior to 500 BCE. He mentioned Satamanas (sata= 100, manas = units) and Karshapana ( subfraction). Each unit was called "Ratti" weighing 0.11 grams. Ratti was average weight of a Gunja seed (a bright red seed with a black tip - see the picture below).
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