India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c9.s6.12

c9.s6.12

Kauṭilya mentions *suvarṇa* as a weight equal to 1 *karsha* or 80 *guñjās* (=140 grains). Older specimens of punch-marked *suvarṇa* coins are wanting, but this theoretical weight is confirmed by the *suvarṇa* coins of the Gupta period which were struck after an indigenous weight standard. From such examples as *dvi-suvarṇa-dhana*, *adhyardha-suvarṇa*, *dvi-suvarṇa* (purchased for 1½ or 2 *suvarṇas*, V. 1. 29), it is certain that *suvarṇa* was a coin with a weight of 1 *karsha*.