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The
of great significance for Indian numismatics. These coins
dated to the 4th-5th century B.C. and conforming to a
weight standard of 100 rattis (= 175 gms) came to be
immediately identified with the satamana of the 艣rauta
Sutra, for satamana as the very name suggests probably
weighed a 100 rattis (= 175 gms). The origins of these
bent-bar coins certainly lay in the gold satamana of the
literature, but the impetus that led to their being
struck as silver currency came from Achmenid Persia.
province of Gandhara which came under the sway of Cyrus
the Great of Persia around 580-530 B.C. was in an ideal
position to assimilate these foreign influences.
likelihood therefore, the gold satamana of the Vedic period
came to be struck as the silver satamana of 100 rattis, on
the standards of the Persian double sigloi which also
weighed a 100 rattis, by the Indian subjects of the Achmenid
Empire. It is indeed noteworthy that these earliest coins
to appear on the Indian scene are wholly restricted to the
Gandhara region (Dhavalikar 1975:330-338).
In all
A slightly later development was that of the
silver punch-marked coins. These rectangular and oral
pieces of silver, punched with the symbols of their issuing
authority were very widely used all over Northen India as
revealed by excavations conducted in the Northen half of
the Indian sub-continent. The first traces of the existence
of these punch-marked coins is in the Northen Black