Lectures on Ancient Indian Numismatics (Carmichael Lectures, 1921) c8.93

c8.93

The other weights presented by the other Purāṇas of this hoard are 42·09, 43·92, 45·75, 47·58, 49·41, 51·24, 53·07 and 56·73. The last of these weights only, *viz.*, 56·73, comes so close to 58·56, the weight of the Purāṇa, that this difference is of no consequence, and that the coin of the Peshāwar hoard bearing that weight is apt to be regarded as a Purāṇa. We will, therefore, leave that weight out of consideration. We may also ignore the first three of these weights because they approximate to 43·92 the weight of the 3/4th Purāṇa, supposing for the moment that there was such a denomination. But what about the other weights which are no less than four and which do not run close to 1, 3/4th or 1/2 Purāṇa? How are we to account for this mutability of weight evinced by the Kārshāpaṇa? No solution that is absolutely convincing has yet suggested itself to me. But a most probable explanation is that this reduction of weight is due to the debasement of the coin. That this reduction of weight was deliberate and systematic may be seen by a reference to the accompanying chart which sets forth the different weights to which the different Purāṇas of the Peshāwar hoard conform. In the first column have been given their weights in grains and in the second in Māshas. And it will be seen from the second column that these weights advance from 11 1/2 to 15 1/2 Māshas by the successive and regular rise of a ½ Māsha. The actual difference between the maximum and minimum of these weights is 14·66. And in this connection I may mention to you that I made an experiment on two different men in regard to the Kārshāpaṇas. Two Kārshāpaṇas of different weights and in different pairs were several times placed on the palms of their hands after carefully blind-folding them, and they were asked to tell which of the two coins was heavier than the other. Sometimes they were right, but sometimes they were wrong—even grievously wrong. And what amused me most was that sometimes a coin which was even 15 grains lighter was pronounced by them to be the heavier of the two. The ordinary human hand, I concluded, cannot unaided detect a difference of even 15 grains. No wonder therefore if the Purāṇas of the Peshāwar hoard were debased to the extent of 14·66 grains. The people of Gandhāra could not possibly have detected this reduction of weight by the mere touch of their hand, and the debasement of the coin, necessitated perhaps by political exigencies, could thus have been safely practised on them.