Scarce early punch silver karshapana, ca.600-470 BC, Kasala Kingdom, India (Murphy Kasala #19)

Round flat silver planchet. Number of various punched symbols / Various punch symbols. Nice quality metal. Rare pre-Maurian silver. 15mmx20mm, 2.46 grams. Murphy Kasala #19 (IIIc.1.3.2).

These silver square coins with various punchmarks are the earliest silver Indian coins. Kosala was an ancient Indian kingdom, corresponding roughly in area with the region of Oudh. Its capital was Ayodhya. It was a powerful state in the 6th centuty B.C. but was weakened by a series of wars with the neighboring kingdom of Magadha and finally (4th cent. B.C.) absorbed by it. Kosala was the setting of much Sanskrit epic literature including the Ramayana. Buddha and Mahavira, founder of Jainism, taught in the kingdom. If you are looking for more Kasala drachms, please contact us (we are selling a collection of these rare coins). These silver punchmarked coins from Kosala Kingdom are much scarcer than the ones from either the Maurian Empire or from Magadha Kingdom.