All the earliest Indian coins known so far are of silver. This has led scholars to believe that these coins would have originated only in about the sixth century B.C. when silver was brought in from the west. However, silver was well known of it and it was used as money or currency. A large number of silver objects were discovered during the last century at a place called Gungeria in Bilaspur district (Madhya pradesh) along with several hundred pre-historic copper objects. So there is no reason to say that coins could not have originated earlier than the sixth century B.C. historical indications are now available to show that silver coins had definitely originated here much earlier than this period. They need to be properly probed and carefully assessed.
It is nowhere recorded in the extant literature how coins were manufactured in the early period. However, kautilya, the minister of Chandragupta Maurya, has referred in a passage to the counterfeiters of coins (Kutarupakaraka) in his arthasastra , the book on state-craft, which was compiled in the fourth century B.C. therein, he has given a list of objects that were used in crucibles (musha) and purified with alkalis (kshara). It was then beten into sheets on an anvil (adhikarni) with a hammer (mushtrka), cut into pices with clippers (sandansa) and finally stamped with dies or punches having symbols (bimba-tanka). Except for the automatic devices, almost the same process is used even today in the manufacture of coins in mints all over the world.
The actual coins of the period also show that they were cut and clipped to adjust them into proper weights. Unlike today, they have the shapes of all conceivable geometrical forms-round, oval and elliptical. Occasionally, metal in the desired weight of the coin was melted and poured on to the earth or on some flat board to take its own shape. Pellets were impressed on one side by means of punch-bearing devices. These ancient coins initially bore only one symbol. The idea was probably borrowed from the branding of cattle used in transactions or reared as wealth in the Vedic period. Later, the number of symbols increased to two and then gradually to five. This technique of punching coins is unique to India, and historians as ‘punch-marked coins’.
The punching devices of these coins have no inscriptions; instead, they have a number of symbols. These run into several hundred, identifiable in various forms, viz. geometrical and floral patterns, hills trees, birds, animals, reptiles, human figures and the like. But the symbols have a specific or limited geographical spread. Symbols or a group of symbols were confined to the coins of a particular area or to some particular variety or type. This helps to distinguish the coins of one area from that of the other, of one state from the other and of one period from another.
Symbols were originally stamped only on one side of the coin, which may be called ‘obverse’. the other side of the ‘reverse’ remained blank. In course of time, when coins had become warn, the reverse was also used. A fresh symbol or symbol-group was impressed on that side and the coin was re-validated. In such cases coins were double obverse, having two impressions- old and new. These silver punch-marked coins have been found in quite large numbers, scattered all over the country. The earliest of these were confined only to a particular area or locality; they were issued by the janapadas and mahajanpadas (small an big states), which existed after the Bharat war (circa eleventh century B.C.). these states gradually merged with the expanding Magadha empire which rose in the fifth century B.C. and spread over the whole country by the end of the fourth century B.C. the states (janapada) of which coins are known so far are Surasena (modern Braj,the region around Mathura), Uttara Panchala (the rohilkhand region) DakshinaPanchala (the Doab area stretching from the Ganga to the Chambal), Chedi (the region south of Yamuna), Kosala (the area bounded by the Gomti on the west, Sarpika-modern Sai on the south, Sadanira- modern Gandak on the east and the Nepal hills on the north),kasi(the region around Varanasi including parts of the districts of jaunpur, Ghazipur and their surroundings), Magadha (the area bounded by the Ganga on the north and the Son on the west, the dense forests reaching the plateau of Chhota Nagpur to the south and Bhagalpur region to the east), Vanga (Bengal), Dakshina Kosala (comprising western Orissa and eastern Madhya Pradesh),Andhra (the delta of the Godavari and the Krishna),Asmaka (the area on both sides of the Godavari bordering Andhra Pradesh), Avanti (ujjain region), Surashtra (the Kathiawar region), Gandhara (north-western region on the border of Afghanistan and Kuntala. (Satara and its environs in western Maharashtra).
The states of Surasena, Uttar Panchala, Dakshina Panchala, Surasena, Malla and Kuntala used single symbols, differing in their forms and execution. the coins of these states, excluding Kuntala, are pieces cut from metal sheets and stamped subsequently.
The coins of Surashtra are thin small pieces of about 15 grains in weight. Almost the full die appears on them, only the sides are slightly out of flan. On them, three or four forms of symbols are seen. The coins of the other three states-Surasena and the two Panchalas-are approximately of the weight standard of 25 grains. In execution and symbology, the coins of Surasena and Uttara Panchala are almost similar. they are tiny thick pieces with only a portion of the punch or die impressed. Fish, bull and elephant with or without a rider are the main symbols found on the Uttara Panchala; Surasena coins have a cat or a lion-like animal placed over two inverted semi-circles and taurine, suggestive of a hill. Taurine, triskelis, crescent, etc. are found in the field on the right. The reverse of the coins of both the states is found almost blank. The Dakshina Panchala coins are distinct from the coins of these states. these coins may be identified in about 125 varieties, according to the form of the symbols. The symbols are round, composed of dots, solid and hollow circles, pellets, lines, squares, taurines, etc.; these components are arranged variously in a systematic way to form the symbols. But on no coin is the symbol seen in its full form, the punches being bigger than the flans. The minute marks punched and appear very blurred.
Gandhara issued coins of a shape of a concave long bar, about 1to 1.75 “in length and averaging about 0.4” in width. The bars appear to be strips cut from oblong ingots. The width of the ingots determined the length of the coins, the thickness remaining the same. The strips were, therefore, cut into a width, combined with the other two dimensions, gave the required weight. After being cut, the bars were adjusted more exactly to the correct weight by chiselling the corners, and in some cases the obverse sides. A common symbol was punched on them twice, on each at the end of the bar. The coins were struck while hot on a wooden anvil, which resulted in the concaveness of the coins. The dies used for punching the coins were substantially wider than the pieces, so the complete impression of the symbols is rarely seen. The symbol is a circular design composed of six tridents and a pole radiating from a central circle. The coins in a fresh condition would be in the proximity of 183 grains, but they are generally found between 150 and 180 grains, i.e. on the concave side, some minute punches in the nature of test marks, are also noticed. since these coins are found in that part of the country, which was within the bounds of the Persian Empire from the end of the sixth to the middle of the fourth century B.C., some scholars think that these coins were based on the weight standard of the Persian siglos and represented double sigloi. Coins of smaller denominations weighing 90 , 80 ,43 , 20 and 7 grains are also known to have been used by this state. They are different in shape from the above-mentioned coins and are cup-shaped, irregular pieces and bear only one punch of the same symbols which is found on the bigger coins.
The coins of vanga are thin rectangular pieces, about half-an-inch in size and 50 to 52 grains in weight. They bear three distinct symbols (i) a single-decked ship; (ii) a wheel, (iii) a six-armed symbol consisting of six arrows placed around a double circle. A hoard of coins of a very similar type was found in Tripura area.
The remaining states (janapadas) issued their coins with four symbols. The coins of these states (janapada) may be distinguished in three orientations: (i)two pairs of symbols constitute four symbols,the pairs facing inwards, towards each other (ii)three symbols-one pair of symbols and two odd symbols, constitute a group. But these orientations were not necessarily found on the coins of every state (janapada); each state followed its own pattern.
Kasi janapada issued coins only in the first two forms mentioned above. They may be placed along with early Kosala and Chedi coins on the basis of their thin and elliptical fabric. They can be divided into two periods, and late. The early coins are known in four denominations; two of higher denominations and two of lower denominations. Coins of higher denominations are round or elliptical and were produced by rolling molten metal into a flat flan. They were stamped with dies when the metal was still hot. This resulted in uneven impressions, either blurred, if the coins were impressed before the metal had fully solidified, or incomplete if the metal had cooled and was impressed later. The coins of the highest denomination have four symbols. Some have two pairs of two symbols, and others have a pair of two symbols as well as two odd symbols. In both cases, one pair of symbols is smaller in size than the other. The coins of lesser denomination have only one symbol. The weights of this two denomination are 92to97 and 46to49 grains, respectively. Coins of the other two denominations are quite different in their fabric. they are made of thin sheets, elongated with circular ends in the case of bigger coins and circular in the case smaller ones. the bigger once are impressed with two symbols and the smaller ones with only one symbol .due to the pressure of the dies, the bigger coins appear like boats and the obverse have risen in relief and have sunk on the reverse. Consequently, they appear like repose work. the coins of the two denominations weigh 13 to 16 grains and 7to8 grains respectively. The coins of all the denominations though made of two different fabrics and produced by different techniques, have symbols of a six-armed symbol but cannot be properly identified. The coins of the later period are only of one denomination and lesser in weight than the earlier coins of the higher denomination. They weigh only in the earlier coins of the higher denomination. They weigh only in the proximity of 75 grains. They are produced from thin sheets of metal cut elliptically. They appear somewhat saucer-like and have two pairs of placed on two opposite sides. here the symbols is composed of a complex form of whorls, consisting of four arms with several curved branches .this symbol is exclusive to the coins of this series and appears to be the identity symbol of this janapada.
The Kosala (Uttara) coins may be distinguished into two distinct fabrics. The earliest coins are broad, thin round pieces and generally seen with a battered obverse. The later coins are of medium thick fabric. They also bear minute marks on the reverse but they do not disturb the symbols on the obverse. But the flan itself is so small that all the four symbols on these coins are mostly geometrical patterns, or bull, elephant and hare. At times some form of trees also seen. the most conspicuous symbol on these coins is composed of three S-like curved lines placed around a circle. This appears to be the identity symbol of this janapada. It is not known on any other series. The coins weigh about 42 grains.
Some coins with four symbols have recently been found in the region of Kasi, janapada. While one of these four symbols is exclusively the identity symbol of Kasi, another symbol is the identity symbol of Kosala. The appearance of the symbols of two different janapadas on the same coins is unusual and most likely indicates that these coins were jointly issued by Kasi and Kosala both and that the janapadas had formed some kind of union at some point of time. Another interesting feature of these coins is that some of them conform to the weight of Kasi, and some others to that of Kosala.
The Chedi coins are broad thin pieces about an inch in size and round in shape. The symbols on them are geometrical patterns, as well as animals, whorls, six-armed symbols and a scorpion-like object with some to be the distinctive symbol of this janapada. The coins weigh from 50 to 54 grains.
The Avanti coins are thin metal pieces of irregular shape, about 50 grains in weight. On them all the four symbols are different. They appear fully punched with their incuse accommodated within the flan of the coins. Although the elephant symbol facing left or right is seen on all the coins of the series, there is nothing to suggest that this was the identity symbol of the janapada.
The Asmaka and Andhra coins are similar. They are small thin pieces of irregular shape and bear neatly punched four symbols. An elephant facing to left is found on almost all the coins. Another frequently seen symbol on these coins is a conventional form of a tree. A bull is also occasionally found on them. These coins weigh about 20 coins in fabric and weight, but the impressions of the symbols on these coins are faint. However, the coins follow one of the varieties of the Andhra symbol-group. They seem to be inter-related with that janapada.
Bibliography :
- P.L.Gupta - Coins, New Delhi, National Book Trust,1969.
- J.Allan - British Museum Catalogue -Coins of Ancient India, London, 1936.
- P.L.Gupta - The Amravati Hoard of Silver Punchmarked Coins, A.P. Govt Museum Series. No 6, Hyderbad,1963
