Lectures on Ancient Indian Numismatics (Carmichael Lectures, 1921) c10.14

c10.14

Perhaps of the lowest denomination was Kṛiṣṇala, but it is not quite certain, though very probable, that it denoted a coin.¹ It will thus be seen that as many as five denominations of coins were known in the Vedic period and were all of gold, namely, Nishka, Śatamāna, Suvarṇa, Pāda and probably Kṛiṣṇala. It is only when we come to the post-Vedic epoch that we hear of another class of coins, namely, the Kārshāpaṇa. It is referred to along with the previous denominations not only in Pāṇini’s Sūtras but also in the Jātaka literature, as I told you in my third lecture. But we find them all mentioned in the Manu-saṃhitā (circa 150 B.C.) and the Yājñavalkya Smṛiti (circa 350 A.D.) which are the only two Smṛiti works that specify various kinds of old metallic stamped money.