A History of Agriculture in India v1.c28.s6.2

v1.c28.s6.2

‘In the sixth century B.C., we find the use of actual coins, i.e. a piece of metal of regular shape, whose weight and fineness were guaranteed by a recognized authority. They were regularly issued by rulers, individual merchants, or corporations, and the State had no monopoly in this respect. As one or more figures were marked on these coins by a punch, as symbols of the issuing authority, these coins are generally known as punch-marked coins. They, however, bore no names, and, with rare exceptions, no legends at all, and some coins with similar devices were also cast. These coins bear no inscriptions and have symbols of various types such as human and animal figures, arms, trees, solar, lunar and planetary marks (Fig. 169). These coins appear to have been in circulation from 700 B.C. to A.D. 500. The coins of this variety are found throughout the length and breadth of India. The technique of minting punch-marked coins was a simple process. The metal was possibly melted in a crucible and the molten metal was poured on to a slab to cool. Then it was beaten on an anvil into sheets. The sheets were cut into small pieces which were later punched with symbols. Thousands of these coins found in different parts of India show that they formed regular currency for a long period.’