Tag: Rulers

In Ancient India, coins were largely minted using three techniques: punch-marking, casting, and die-striking—one of these is still in use today. Read on to find out which one. Punch-marking It is the oldest coin-making technique in India, dating back to 6th Century BCE. The term punch-marked was firstly used by James Prinsep, a scholar best known for decoding the Kharosthi and Brahmi scripts. Punch-marked coins are found in both silver and copper—metal pieces are cut into the required shape with a chisel and marks are later made on them using different punches. A local punch-marked coin, 600 BCE Kautilya in his Arthashashtra (c. 4th century BCE) listed objects commonly used in the manufacturing of coins. According to him, the metal used to be first melted in crucibles (musha) and purified…

The 6th Century BCE was a remarkable period in the history of the Indian subcontinent. It witnessed the rise of the Mahajanapadas, the first-ever political states and cities on the Subcontinent. This, alongside a commodity surplus and the flourishing of trade, society, and art, paved the way for a complex economy. This then demanded a monetary system with a uniform, stable currency, and a robust authority to assign assurance marks on the coinage. The result was a piece of metal of sufficient purity and weight certified by the ruler of the territory. There’s a good chance these punch-marked coins were originally struck through guilds or private merchants, and later went under royal control. Hoards of silver punch-marked have been unearthed in a range of locations in northern India, from the…