Punch-marked coin

Also called: Karshapana, Pana, Kahapana · Topic: Janapadas, Mahajanapadas and the Second Urbanisation · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 4 "New Beginnings: Cities and States"; Class 7, Ch 5 "The Rise of Empires"; Class 9, Ch 5 "State and Society up to 1000 CE"; Class 12, Ch 2 "Kings, Farmers and Towns"

Meaning

A punch-marked coin is the earliest kind of coin made in India. It is a small piece of metal, mostly silver and also copper, with each symbol struck onto it by a separate punch (a small metal stamp) [2]. These coins show that by about the sixth century BCE, exchange in the Ganga plains and beyond used money and not only barter. Coins are found all over the subcontinent, so they are one of our best guides to how far trade reached in the Second Urbanisation.

Explanation

Background: why coins appeared

• The mahajanapadas needed money.
• Large states (mahajanapadas) grew up with capital cities, armies and officials.
• Towns, crafts and long-distance trade grew along routes like the Uttarapatha and Dakshinapatha [5].

• Traders needed a standard and portable store of value, and coins met this need.

• An early related type is the silver "bent bar", a curved bar of silver with marks on it [2].

• Generally, each mahajanapada issued its own coins.

Main features

• How it was made: a piece of metal was cut to a fixed weight. Then each symbol was struck on it one at a time with a separate punch [2]. That is why the coins are called "punch-marked".
• Metal: mainly silver. Silver is soft, so a punch presses into it easily. Copper was also used.
• Shape: small, often square or irregular pieces. The RBI places common use of square punch-marked silver coins in the 5th–4th century BCE [2].
• Symbols: the sun, various animals, trees, hills and plain geometrical shapes [2]. Many coins carry five such marks.
• No writing: the coins carry no king's name and no portrait. They only have symbols.
• Unit: the standard silver coin was the karshapana (also called pana). It weighed about 57.8 grains ≈ 3.75 grams [4].

Who issued them, and how this changed

• NCERT view: both groups are possible.
• Scholars try to match the symbols to ruling families, which suggests kings issued them.

• But merchants, bankers and townspeople may also have issued some.

• RBI view: the series has two phases [2]:

• a first period linked to the janapadas (small local states);
• a second period linked to the Mauryan empire.

• The RBI says the coins were issued first by merchant guilds and later by states [2].

• For the exam, follow NCERT: keep both kings and merchants/bankers/townspeople as possible issuers [2].

• Later coins added copper, gold and other metals, and new methods of making them.

Results

• Coins crossed borders. A coin issued by one mahajanapada is often found far outside it, in trade across many regions.
• Coins rebuild trade maps. Numismatists (people who study coins) use the places where coins are found to trace the old commercial networks.
• Economic power was shared. If merchants and bankers issued coins, then money was not only a royal tool. This fits the strong role of shrenis (guilds of craft producers and merchants), which also acted as banks and financiers.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: NCERT says from about the sixth century BCE. The RBI dates the whole series from the 7th–6th century BCE to the 1st century CE [2]. Both dates are approximate.
• Political setting: the janapadas and mahajanapadas first, then the Mauryan empire [2].
• Region: found all over the subcontinent, not only in the Ganga plains.
• Key site: Taxila in the northwest. It has a large hoard of punch-marked coins, with its own published catalogue [3].
• How we know:
• Coin finds and hoards, studied by numismatists. Taxila is one example [3].
• The RBI Monetary Museum classification and dating [2].
• Texts name the karshapana as the standard silver unit [4].
• NCERT textbooks: Class 7 (Ch 4, 5), Class 9 (Ch 5), Class 12 (Ch 2, "Kings, Farmers and Towns").

Don't confuse with

• Karshapana / pana: this is the name of the unit (a silver coin of about 3.75 g) [4]. "Punch-marked" is the way the coin was made. Many karshapanas were punch-marked coins.
• Bent bar: an early curved silver bar with marks [2]. It is related to punch-marked coins, but it is not the small flat coin.
• Indo-Greek coins: these were the first Indian-region coins to carry a ruler's name and portrait. Punch-marked coins carry only symbols, no names or faces.
• Kushana coins: the Kushanas issued the first large gold coins. Punch-marked coins were mainly silver (also copper).

Prelims Hooks

• Punch-marked coins were mainly silver (also copper), and each symbol was struck with a separate punch [2].
• Common symbols: sun, animals, trees, hills, geometrical shapes [2]. Trap: they carry no inscription or king's portrait.
• Dating: NCERT gives c. sixth century BCE for the start. The RBI gives 7th–6th century BCE to 1st century CE [2].
• The karshapana (pana) weighed about 57.8 grains / 3.75 grams of silver [4].
• RBI's two phases are the janapada period and the Mauryan period. The RBI says coins were issued by merchant guilds first, then states [2].
• Taxila has a large hoard of punch-marked coins with its own catalogue [3]. People who study coins are called numismatists.

Mains Points

• Coins as evidence of a connected economy. Coins of one mahajanapada are found far outside it, and finds come from all over the subcontinent. This shows that trade crossed political borders long before the Mauryas unified the region. Coins, together with the Uttarapatha and Dakshinapatha routes [5], explain how the Second Urbanisation worked as one network.
• Who held economic power? A historians' debate.
• The symbols may match ruling families, which points to kings.
• NCERT also allows merchants, bankers and townspeople as issuers.
• The RBI goes further: guilds first, states later [2].

• So the state did not hold all economic power. Corporate bodies like the shrenis, which fixed prices and acted as banks [4], shared it. This point is useful for questions on state formation versus commercial society.

• Value and limits of coin evidence. The early cities are hard to excavate because people still live in them. So coins become a main source for this period, along with texts and route geography. But coins without inscriptions are hard to date and assign to an issuer, so conclusions about who issued them must stay tentative.

Read more

• Coins, trade routes, cities and guilds