Historical Geography of Ancient India c10.461

c10.461

In ancient Vidiśā copper *kārṣāpaṇa* was the standard money from slightly before the rise of the Mauryas to at least the beginning of the Gupta supremacy, i.e., for upwards of 600 years.⁸ Punch-marked coins were found at Besnagar (ancient Vidiśā) which had its own individual marks on its coinage. They contained strata reaching down to the 4th century A.D.⁹ The *kārṣāpaṇas* found at Besnagar seem to have been struck on a river bank. A zig-zig sign appears on them denoting a river bank.¹⁰ Dr. Bhandarkar opines that owing to the enhancement of the price of copper the weight of copper *kārṣāpaṇas* was reduced at some periods in the ancient town of Vidiśā.¹¹