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PUNCHED MARKED COINS
The oldest coins found in the subcontinent are punch-marked coins, made mostly of silver, some of copper.
Usually rectangular, sometimes square or round. These coins are often irregular in shape.
Blanks for making these coins were generally cut from a metal sheet.
The symbol or symbols were then hammered on these coins using dies or punches.
Most of the silver punch-marked coins weighed 32 rattis or about 56 grains.
The punch-marked coins of northern India can be divided into four main series :-
• Taxila Gandhara type of the north-west with a heavy weight standard and a single punch type;
• Kosala type of the middle Ganga valley, with a heavy weight standard and multiple punch marks.
• Avanti type of western India, with a light weight standard and single punch mark.
• Magadhan type with a light weight standard and multiple punches.