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Punch marked coins were made of? (A) Silver (B) Gold (C) Tin (D) Ivory
By BYJU'S Exam Prep
Updated on: September 25th, 2023
Silver is used to make Punch marked coins. It is a kind of early currency from India that was produced between the sixth and the second centuries BC. The Mahajanpadas of the Indo-Gangetic plain may have produced the country’s first coins about the sixth century BC. Coins that were punched-marked were replaced with cast die-struck coins during the Post-Mauryan period as a result of the collapse of the Maurya Empire and the growing influence of the Indo-Greeks.
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Punch marked Coins
Coins from this era had punch marks and were known as Puranas, Karshapanas, or Pana. These coins all shared a common symbol. Saurashtra, for instance, had a bull with a hump. Others, like Magadha, had a number of emblems. Dakshin Panchala had a Swastika. Some facts about Punch marked coins are mentioned below.
- Punched Coins with markings were made of silver and had a set weight but had a peculiar form.
- Silver bars were broken into smaller pieces to create an irregular shape, and the coin’s edges were then trimmed to create the proper weight.
- These coins were always made in silver and are devoid of any writing in modern languages.
- Early Indian coins are considerably different from their Greek counterparts because of these distinctive features.
- According to several historians, the Greeks brought the idea of coinage to India. Greek coins, however, were struck using silver, electrum, and gold as well as having inscriptions that were circular in shape and imprinted on both sides, as opposed to the punch-marked coins used in India.
- Now, historians are confident that India invented currency independently of outside influence, giving these coins their distinctive qualities.
- These coins survived three centuries longer in the south than in the north, and they are described in Manu, Panini, and Buddhist Jataka literature.
Summary:
Punch marked coins were made of? (A) Silver (B) Gold (C) Tin (D) Ivory
Coins with punch marks were made of silver. It was an early form of money created in India between the sixth and second centuries BC. The first coinage of the nation may have been made in the sixth century BC of the Indo-Gangetic plain by the Mahajanpadas.