Punchmark Coins

The first Coins of India were minted just before 5th Century BC. These are known as Punchmarked Coins. These coins were punched pieces of silver of specific weight, with various symbols, uniface with no inscriptions. They were marked with 1 to 5 or more symbols, representing animals, hills, trees, and human figures, stamped by royal authority.

There were several small kingdoms in India in 8th – 10th Century BC. Each Kingdom had distinct type of silver coins to facilitate the trade. About 600 BC. north western part of India, Takshasshila or Taxila and Pushkalavati or Peshawar, became important trade centres for Mesopotamia. They issued unique coins, called bent bars (concave bars) of silver, weighing 11 gms, these are also called ‘Taxila bentbars’ or ‘Satamana bent bar’, representing 100 rattis of silver in weight (Sata means 100, mana means unit). These bars were punched with septa radiate (seven arms) symbols, one at each end.