Chandragupta Maurya and His Times c15.158

c15.158

As has been already stated, of the six Classes into which the above type of coins are grouped, Classes 2 and 6 are taken to be Maurya. "Their composition is almost every where the same," though they are very different in style and fabric, Class 2 consisting of small thick pieces and Class 6 of large thin pieces. Yet the constant association of these two Classes is surprising. It has been found that these two Classes of coins "circulated together from Peshawar to the mouth of the Godāvarī, and from Palanpur in the west, to Midnapore in the east." The distinction between them is not one of place. The same authority must have issued them as current coins in all the localities under the control of that authority. "The authority that issued these coins must have ruled the Ganges valley, the upper Indus valley, thrust its way up the tributaries of Jumna to the west, and come along the east coast through Orissa and penetrated far into the Deccan. This is what the find-spots suggest" [Allan, *Ib.* lv, lvi]. The find-spots also agree with the distribution of Asoka's inscriptions and thus point unmistakably to the Maurya empire as the authority that issued the coins of these two Classes which are found to be so closely connected.