Chandragupta Maurya and His Times c9.130

c9.130

It may be noted in this connection that the earliest indigenous coinage of India was represented by the standard coins (1) of gold called *Suvarṇa* (2) of silver called *Purāṇa* or *Dharaṇa* and (3) of copper called *Kārshāpaṇa*. The coinage was modelled on the native system of weights as given by Manu [VIII. 132 f.]. The basis of the system is the *ratti* (*raktika*) or *guñja* berry weighing on an average 1·83 grains or 0·118 grammes. The *Suvarṇa* was of 80 *ratis* = 146·4 grains = 9·48 grammes. No specimens of *Suvarṇa* have been traced. The silver *Purāṇa* or *Dharaṇa* weighed 32 *ratis* = 58·56 grains = 3·79 grammes and the copper *Kārshāpaṇa* was of the same weight as *Suvarṇa*. Vast hoards of these silver and copper coins and of their various multiples and subdivisions have been discovered all over India. These old coins are shaped like square or oblong. The silver coins appear cut from a flat sheet of metal and the copper ones of a bar. They are little more than weights of metal on which was stamped from time to time the symbol of the authority responsible for their genuineness and purity.