Long concave silver bar, 38mm long, struck with a 6-armed Gandharan symbol on each end. 11.21 grams. Rajgor 540-545 var.

These large and intriguing coins - worth about three karshapanas - are strong candidates for the earliest struck coins in India. In the 6th century BC, Gandhara was a province of the Achaemenid Empire, as indicated by an inscription from the reign of Darius I (c. 520–518 BC). It was likely through Achaemenid influence that the Gandharans first adopted the concept of struck coinage. The earliest Gandharan issues, the shatamanas (“100 manas,” the exact meaning unknown and commonly called “bent bars”), appear to follow the Achaemenid siglos weight standard, since their average weight closely matches that of two sigloi. From Gandhara, the practice of producing struck - or punchmarked - coins spread southward, eventually being adopted across much of northern and central India. This theory of Achaemenid influence is widely accepted, though not universal; some scholars argue for the independent invention of coinage in India. The shatamanas continued to be issued for a considerable period, though their end date is uncertain. What is clear is that their production did not outlast the Mauryan conquest of Gandhara under Chandragupta around 300 BC.

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