An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c8.s1.3

v1.c8.s1.3

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.