Lectures on Ancient Indian Numismatics (Carmichael Lectures, 1921) c8.96

c8.96

I cannot conclude my lecture on the Kārshāpaṇa without taking notice of another theory which has been propounded to explain the metrological complications of this coinage. This theory was first set forth nine years ago by a French scholar called M. J. A. Decourdemanche.¹ He contends that the punch-marked coins, whether of silver or copper, constitute simply a Hindu variety of Akhæmenid Persian coinage. The latter does not differ from the former except in impression. We know that in much later times, certain Muhammadan sovereigns of India issued some coins with Hindu symbols and legends, even idolatrous in type, side by side with some coins of purely Arabic style and legend. Similarly, the Akhæmenian sovereigns struck punch-marked coins with Hindu symbols side by side with the Persian *sigloi*. That these coins were an Akhæminian issue he tries to prove by the fact that their weights in his opinion conform to the metric system connected with the Talent type, which first came into use either in Egypt or in the Assyro-Babylonian region and dependencies, and was the basis of the Akhæmenid coinage. To prove his point he selects punch-marked coins from Smith's *Catalogue*, and reviews their weights. Confining our attention to the silver variety, he takes, *e.g.*, five coins whose weights range between 43·6 and 46·2 grains and classes them under Triobolus of the heavy variety, whose theoretical weight is 44 grains. Some coins weighing between 40·2 and 42 grains he assigns to Tribolus of the light variety (Grs. 42). Two or three coins of 55 or 55·6 grains are called by him Tetrobolus (Grs. 56). He also traces Didrachmas of both the heavy and light variety among these punch-marked coins. But there are many silver punch-marked coins which cannot be assigned to any of the well-known sub-divisions of the Shekel (Daric). He, therefore, places them under four classes, the smallest of which weighs 26·5 grains. He takes this last class as representing ⅛th of the unit, which thus comes to a Shekel of 14⅙ grammes (heavy weight), and this is precisely the weight, he says, of an Egyptian Pharohic Shekel. I do not wish to take you further into the intricacies of the question, because it is unnecessary to do so.