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An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c8.s1: 3.1 Coins

An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c8.s1

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3.1 Coins

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3.1.1 *Punch-marked*. Though terms like *niṣka*, *śatamāna* and *suvarṇa* are used in early Indian literature and gold passed by weight, the earliest actual coins were of silver and not gold. They consist of small thin roughly square, oblong, oval, rectangular and round pieces of metal of predetermined weight bearing up to five symbols impressed by individual punches. Known as punch-marked coins, the significance of their symbols, of which several hundreds are known, has given rise to much conjecture but remain largely unexplained. It is generally supposed that the earliest punch-marked coins owed their origin to silversmiths or bankers, not to the state. They antedate Alexander's invasion and may go back to the 6th-5th century bc The early coins have not been found in firmly datable archaeological context and attempts to establish their chronology by statistical estimates or the degree of their wear are not entirely convincing. However it is evident from excavations that the punch-marked coins belong to the same archaeological horizon as the NBPW [11.16]. Several thousands of them have been found in almost all parts of India. This and the references in Buddhist literature and the *Arthaśāstra* go to prove that money economy had become a familiar fact during the centuries preceding the Christian era.

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How the coins were manufactured in early period is not recorded anywhere in extant literature. However the *Arthaśāstra* incidentally gives a list of objects that were used for the manufacture of counterfeit coins. The metal was melted in crucibles and purified with alkalis; the metal was first beaten into sheets on the anvil with a hammer and then cut into pieces with clippers. An adjustment of the weight was made by cutting small bits of one or more corners of the heavier pieces and this led to a deviation from their rectangular shape. Finally these pieces were stamped with punches either on one or both of their faces. After final verification by money-testers these coins were put into circulation. The silver punch-marked coins of which several thousands have been found all over the country must have been manufactured by this process. This technical development—manufacture of punch-marked coins—was of considerable significance. It made possible the mass production of coins of uniform content and weight and thus provided a currency which could be circulated, so that passing of money by weight became unnecessary.

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The advantages of the coins to the commercial community were immense; it rendered business transactions easy. Though initially the initiative of developing and manufacturing coins was taken by merchants, the state soon took over the responsibility of minting coins, which became their prerogative. Howevèr for its own convenience the state might have delegated the function to contractor craftsmen. The credit for the extensive use of the punch-marked currency must go to the Mauryas who paved the way for money economy in the Deccan and s. India also. The issue of punch-marked coins stopped some time in the 2nd century b.c. but they remained in circulation a little longer. The technique of building up coin design by separate punches remained in sporadical use for centuries, for instance on the gold coins of the Chalukyas of the Deccan as late as the 11th century.

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A series of silver coins usually described as bent bars stamped with wheel or sun-like design, double in the larger denominations and single in the others, have been found in the n.-w. parts. Such coins with a definitely known provenance come from Taxila which lay within the bounds of the Persian empire from the end of the 6th to the middle of the 4th century b.c. Specimens of this series were found in an early stratum of Taxila along with punch-marked coins and a gold coin of Diodotus. Others were found along with punch-marked coins, a worn-out *siglos* and coins of Alexander and Philip Aridaeus. These finds suggest that the date of the issue of the bent bars may very well fall within the period of Persian domination over the n.-w. part of the subcontinent. An interesting feature of these bent bars is that they were struck on a Persian standard.

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3.1.2 *Cast*. Side by side cast coins were also current in n. India. Always in copper, they include uninscribed and inscribed issues. The uninscribed ones were introduced in the 4th century b c. or earlier and continued up to the middle of the 2nd century b c., though in some areas they persisted even later; in the e. they were in circulation down to the early centuries of the Christian era as is proved by the Kumrahar excavation. These coins generally bear traditional symbols commonly seen on punch-marked, early uninscribed and inscribed diestruck [3.1.3] issues. The uninscribed cast coins, the majority of which are found along with the punch-marked coins ascribed to the Mauryan period, may have provided a copper currency to supplement the silver punch-marked one. The beginning of the inscribed cast coinage in n. India cannot be dated earlier than the middle of the 2nd century B.C. The Yaudheyas were the foremost in issuing the inscribed cast coins, which were minted at KHOKRA-KOT and SUNET.

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The technique of casting coins is revealed by the discovery of several thousand moulds dating from 100 B.C from different localities such as KHOKRA-KOT, SUNET, Taxila, SANCHI, NĀLANDĀ and KONDAPUR. Of these the moulds found at KHOKRA-KOT and SUNET are of special interest. The KHOKRA-KOT moulds were made up of a series of clay discs placed in a vertical column, like a pile of coins. The whole pile was plastered over with clay, with a funnel-like crater leading vertically down into a central channel, like the shaft of a mine. From this channel, again as in a mine, horizontal sub-channels led out at different levels and these opened into the coin sockets. At the last level eight such subchannels radiated from the central shaft and opened into as many coin sockets arranged in the coin ring. The coupled faces of contiguous discs bore the negative impressions of the obverse and the reverse respectively and were so placed as to make the opposing sockets coincide exactly. After the metal had been poured and the mould was cold enough it was broken up and the coins taken out, the remaining metal being again put into the melting pot. Occasionally a coin hurriedly broken off would carry away with it one end of the spoke. On the other hand, a portion of the coin margin might be left behind on the spoke and the coin would show a concave scar. The two faces of the disc were quite independent of each other—one bore the obverse of the coin and the other its reverse. The KHOKRA-KOT moulds show many variations in designs and script, revealing that a number of different moulds were used once for making the first series of coins, the coins thereafter being freely used as models. It is not clear whether the moulds were made of clay or wax, wood, soapstone or some other material. It is possible that at the very outset a negative was made in wax or clay and a positive was prepared in either clay or metal. Tenon-and-mortise device was used for replacing the discs in their exact positions in coupling the moulds. Another device was an oblique groove drawn across the outer edge of each disc to serve as an index line to enable the workmen to check from outside the correct position of the discs in reconstructing a set after the models had been removed. The workman would have used as his appliances: a circular wooden base with a cylindrical peg fixed in the centre; a hollowed cylinder just wide enough to fit round the circular platform; a wide-mouthed cup or a small container without a lid for measuring out the quantity of kneaded clay; a stylet made of wood or metal with a rounded tip for engraving in clay or wax; some flat pieces of metal to serve as models for the radial channels; fine clay, wax, ash or charcoal dust; and bits of stone or brick and paddy or other grain with husk. Casting was done in a complex mould. The metal was poured into the crater which filled the central channel and thence spread horizontally at different levels through the radial subchannels into the whorls of the coin sockets. The clay luting round the entire mould served to bind the discs into a compact pile and prevented the leakage of the metal. At the same time the porous nature of the luting allowed the escape of hot gases with the advance of the inflowing metal.

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The SUNET moulds are single coin discs. They bear the coin impression—obverse or reverse as the case may be—only on one face, the other being either flat or slightly convex. Each pair of devices, when coupled face to face, would have its two exposed sides blank. A number of such pairs were placed parallel to each other with a layer of plaster laid between the contiguous pairs. The whole series was then plastered over on the outside with the same binding material, care being taken to leave open all the channels into the sockets. The metal might have been poured into a single common channel communicating with all the sockets; such a channel would either be an open trough cut into the side of the cylinder or a single longitudinal channel connecting all the transverse subchannels, with possibly a funnel-like crater at the end, the metal being poured in a vertical position.

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The process of casting coins being clumsy and time-consuming, these coins had restricted circulation over limited areas as compared to punch-marked or die-struck coins.

3.1.3 Die-struck

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The earliest uninscribed die-struck coins, generally in copper, with a device on only one side of the coin have been assigned to the end of the 4th century B.C. Later the devices were impressed on both sides of the coins. The finest of these were struck in Gandhāra—those bearing a lion on the obverse and an elephant on the reverse. Later on legends were introduced on this series. The double-die coins issued by the Pañcāla rulers and those of Kauśāmbī and Mathurā and the Negama coins of Taxila bear legends.

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The Greeks introduced the splendid series of portrait coinage—a type followed by Indian moneyers for a number of centuries. They struck in silver and copper with bilingual inscriptions and types that were partly Greek and partly Indian. Their square coppers are met with in great abundance. Parallel to the purely Indo-Greek series are the coins of the Śakas and the Parthians. Many of their coin types are remarkable for a profusion of privy marks that should eventually permit a much closer dating and localization than is at present possible. The coins of the W. Kṣatrapas are chiefly important because on them first appear dates in the Śaka era which thenceforward provides a much firmer basis for chronology. The most remarkable coin series of the early centuries A.D. are those of the Kushans and the Guptas. The Kushans struck an abundance of gold coins (their predecessors had minted almost exclusively in silver and copper), some of them concave in form, with a great variety of Indian, Greek and Iranian deities as types. The Kushans likewise struck coppers in large quantities to provide small change for minor transactions. This shows the penetration of money economy into towns and possibly into rural areas. The gold coinage of the Guptas is abundant and purely Indian but extremely varied in type, besides being of high artistic quality. The king is shown in an infinity of roles and Hindu deities appear as a matter of course. The legends betray a tendency to transform the coins into something not far removed from commemorative medals. The Guptas issued some silver to serve in W. India only and very little copper. This could be due to the emergence of a self-sufficient village economy in mid-India and the decline set in trade and commerce and consequently in money economy in the countryside.

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A major difficulty in the study of die-struck techniques is the lack of actual coin dies. However, using the analogy of ancient Indian seals [3.2] and ancient and medieval dies of the W. it is possible to reconstruct the ancient Indian technique in outline. The dies used would have been hardened bronze, iron or steel. The upper die must have been a cylindrical bar having at the end a device cut in intaglio. The lower die likewise must have been a bar but more complicated in shape. It ended below in a point so that it could be forced into a block of wood and would stay in position without the hammer driving it further and further in. The die face, bearing in intaglio, a mirror image of the design which was ultimately seen on one of the two surfaces of the coin, would have been made with the help of graving tools and punches, the former used for die-cutting and the latter for die-sinking. The dies seem usually to have been cut freehand and working by eye alone may have been the general practice. A complicated pattern in high relief, like that on many Gupta gold coins, would involve many hours of work, whereas a less complicated design could be engraved in a matter of minutes. It is possible that most dies were made directly, so that each one differed from its fellows slightly, but hubbed and cast dies were sometimes made. In a large mint operating under an imperial authority die-sinking would be entrusted to one or more experts. Sometimes dies made at a central mint would have been distributed to provincial mints. Dies once made could be repaired and altered. The type and inscription on a worn-out die could be recut, the outlines of the design and the letter being sharpened by the use of a graving tool; a cracked die would be strengthened and in part repaired. Since the upper die wears out more quickly than the lower one it is possible that they were supplied in sets rather than in pairs, two or more upper dies being associated with each lower one. When dies wore out or when the coin type was replaced by another, the old dies would be formally defaced, as seals were defaced on the death of their owners. Ultimately the old dies would be melted down.

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A necessary preliminary to the making of the coin blanks was the preparation of an alloy. How the blanks were made would depend upon the ultimate form of the coin. The blanks for the large and heavy coins were usually cast in a globular form, which explains the thickness and rounded edges of the coins. Others were cast in terracotta moulds, either individually or in groups. An alternative method would be to cast the metal in long strips and cut them up with chisels into pieces of appropriate size, which were then grasped with tongs, re-heated and worked by hammering into circular discs. The blanks were then treated with acids. After this the weights of individual pieces were adjusted to conform with the mint prescriptions, which in the case of gold and silver coins meant individual testing blank by blank. Next the blanks were struck either hot or cold, both methods with advantages and disadvantages. Finally they were submitted for verification and then put in circulation.

3.1.4 N. India

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During the four centuries between the downfall of the Guptas and the Ghaznavid invasion, small silver/billon pieces, very much inferior in craftmanship, were practically the only coins minted. Of these the coinage of the Hūṇas, though usually treated as Indian, belongs rather to the coinage of C. Asia than of India, and the Bull/Horseman type issued by the rulers of Punjab, Delhi, Narwar and Kangra originated in Kabul. From the 7th century the rulers of Kashmir issued a debased series of coins having a standing king on one side and Ardoksho on the other. These are copper coins alloyed with a small percentage of gold and silver. The Gadhaiya *paise* and the seated-goddess type became popular in W. and C. India respectively. Gold reappeared in the 11th and 12th centuries in C. India in the form of the seated-goddess type.

3.1.5 The Deccan and S. India

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Side by side with the coinage of N. and C. India there was that of the Deccan and the S. coastline. Different techniques for manufacturing coins had evolved in the S. at an early stage and had reached a reasonable degree of perfection by the Sātavāhana period. But the acceptance of die-striking which became the only major technique in the N. at an early date does not, for some reason or other, find its expected parallel in the s. In fact the practice of punch-ing small devices on one side of the coins, leaving the other side completely blank, persisted in the s. and was one of the major techniques current towards the close of the period. Gold and copper were primarily used for s. coinage, silver being very rare. There were two denomi-nations in gold, the *hon varāha* or *pagoda* (weighing 3·240 to 3·888 g) and the *fanam* (weighing ·324 to ·388 g), based respectively on the weights of two seeds, the *Kalañju* and the *mañjāḍi*. Copper coins were called *kāśu*. The rare silver coins appear to follow the gold standard. Gold coins had an independent development in the s. The earliest specimens, of doubtful age, are spherules of plain gold with a minute punch-mark on one side; these developed into the cup-shaped *padma-ṭaṅkas*, stamped with punches, first on one side only and later on both. Finally came die-struck pieces, of which the small thick Vijayanagara *pagodas* are the typical s. form. Another characteristic feature of s. Indian coinage is the preference for tiny coins.

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The earliest known coins of s. India are punch-marked coins of the n. Indian variety. After the downfall of the Mauryas die-struck coins, uninscribed and inscribed, were current all over the Deccan particularly in the Āndhra and Pāṇḍyan countries. For the first time lead was used for coins and this remained the primary metal for the Deccan coinage for a considerable time. The Sātavāhanas issued lead coins and also silver ones with their life-like portraits with legends in s. Brāhmī on the obverse and in n. Brāhmī on the reverse. During the first two centuries of the Christian era the currency of the s. consisted chiefly of imported Roman gold, several hoards of which have been found at various places. A certain quantity of Roman silver too must have been in circulation, while the small copper pieces bearing Ro-man devices and legends were probably local produc-tions. In the 3rd century a.d. the Ikṣvākus issued their coins in the e. Deccan in imitation of the Sātavāhana pot in coins. Later on copper coins were issued by the Śālaṅkāyanas, Viṣṇukuṇḍins and early Pallavas. There seems to be a gap in the numismatic history of Karnataka and Maharashtra immediately after the fall of the Sātavāhanas. This gap was not very wide in the w. Dec-can, where the Traikūṭakas issued silver coins in imita-tion of the coins of the W. Kṣatrapas. The earliest coins assignable to the Chalukyas of Badami are certain *pagodas* and *fanams* and some copper coins bearing the symbol of boar. In the e. Deccan the Chalukyas of Veṅgī issued a large number of copper and base silver coins having a conventionalized lion device. The most striking feature of s. Indian coins from the 10th century is the emergence of an indigenous gold coinage. Initially gold may have been issued by the royal dynasties of the Coḷas and the E. and W. Chalukyas, but gradually a number of feudatory lines such as the Kadambas of Karnataka and Goa, the W. Gaṅgas and the Yādavas of Devagiri began to issue gold coins of their own. The use of silver was very limited and sporadic, both in space and time. The copper currency is not evenly distributed in different parts of s. India. Tamil Nadu had an almost unbroken series of copper coinage and thus shows a consistent and regular use of coined money in economic transactions. The use of copper in Āndhra was very limited after the 7th century, and the same seems to be true of Karnataka and Maharashtra as well. From the extreme s.-w. only one silver coin type having Nāgarī legends on both sides has been attributed to the Cera dynasty of Kerala.

3.1.6 Weight standard

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The early moneyers adopted the indigenous weight system, the unit being *rati*, *raktika* or *kṛṣṇala*, the scarlet or black seed of the Indian liquorice or weather-plant, the weight of which was eventually standardized as 0·12 g. The silver punch-marked coins were struck to an original weight standard of the silver *dharaṇa* of 32 *ratis* or 3·564 g and its submultiples, while early coppers were based on the copper *kārṣāpaṇa* of 80 *ratis* or 9·460 g and its sub-multiples. The Indo-Greeks followed the Attic weight standard for their silver, which is known in three denominations—tetradrachm (17·106 g), drachm (4·276 g), which is just half in weight of the 8·553 g gold stater, and obol (1/6 of drachm, 0·712 g). The Greek copper unit was the chalkon, which was equal in weight to a drachm. In value eight such chalkons were equal to an obol and 48 of them to a drachm. The Kushan gold *dīnāra* was approximately of the same size and weight as the Roman gold *aureus* of the time of Augustus (23 b.c. to a.d. 14) and were struck at the weight standard of 8·0 g. The Kushans maintained their *dīnāras* at constant weight but in course of time slightly debased the quality of gold. Due to a certain degree of inflation in their economy the real value of the various denominations seems to have decreased and the gold coinage was debased and the copper denominations progressively reduced in weight to keep par with the economic deve-lopments. The large coppers of Wima Kadphises were struck at the Attic weight standard tetradrachm of 17 g, half of this denomination was struck at the didrachm weight standard of 8 g or perhaps a little more and the quarter on a standard of drachm of about 4 g Kaniṣka continued the copper denominations of his predecessor and retained the weight standard, adding yet a smaller fraction of his own—hemidrachm. Huviṣka's coppers do not fall into any clear pattern. Coins of Vāsudeva fall between 7 and 10 g. The first two Gupta rulers followed the weight standard of 7·840 g for their gold but Candra-gupta II issued in three different weight standards of 7·840, 8·035 and 8·229 g. Kumāragupta I issued more in 8·229 g and less in 7·840 g. Skandagupta abandoned all these and first issued at 8·553 g and later adopted the Indian *suvarṇa* weight standard and issued coins weighing between 9·200 and 9·395 g. The Gupta coins were known as *dīnāras*, but it is likely that the later coins were called *suvarṇas*. No submultiples like half or quarter *dīnāras* were issued. Their silver followed the W. Kṣatrapa standard of 1·944 g. It is difficult to detect any denominational scheme in the Gupta coppers. Of the post-Gupta series the Hūṇa coins were struck at 4·146 to 2·462 g with concentration between 3·564 and 3·304 g; the Indo-Sasanian coins were struck between 3·621 and 3·422 g; the Gadhaiya coins were struck between 4·794 and 3·514 g with concentration at 3·8 g; the Bull/Horseman coins were struck at 3·5, 3·2 and 3·0 g during different periods and the seated-goddess type was issued between 3·8 to 3·1 g. The E. Chalukya gold coins weighed between 4·406 to 4·211 g and their *fanams* weighed ·388 g. The W. Chalukyas issued their gold at 4·471 to 3·434 g, while their *fanams* weighed ·354 g and a quarter of a *fanam* ·064 g. The Coḻa gold and silver coins weighed between 4·406 and 3·368 g. The lesser denominations in silver weighed between 1·296 and ·842 g. Their coppers were struck at between 4·276 and 3·368 g. The lesser denominations in copper weighed between 1·036 and ·712 g. Some very tiny coins weighed ·064 g.

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Chattopadhyaya, B.D., 1977, *Coins & Currency Systems in s. India*, New Delhi, with bibliography. Gupta, P.L., 1969, *Coins*, New Delhi. *Jour. Numismatic Soc. of India*. Prakash, Satya & Singh, Rajendra, 1963, *Coins in Ancient India, a Numismatic & Archaeological Study of Ancient Indian Coins*, New Delhi. Sahni, B., 1973, *Technique of Cast-ing Coins in Ancient India*, Varanasi. For sites see respective entries in vol. II.—P. BHATIA

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