MAGADH - MAURYAN PUNCHMARK

I bid the minimum and won, not really sure what it is, it is coming from India, so I may never actually get to see it, but for the minimum bid, I figured it was worth the risk.

Any information would be gratefully received (Noob?)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAGADH-MA...xJwb%2BR8QLWSDTLPhcNE%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

 

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Well done. Indian States coins could be reviewed on standard catalogs of Krause. I believe they're more expensive than what you paid. A good buy for this price anyway. I also noticed there's some Arabic lettering on some of them, namely the year of reign ( Julus ).

 

Not Indian States, Mauryan. Looks like it has enough of the punch marks to attribute exactly. I don't have the reference, but others here do. Also, I've ordered coins from several sellers in India and they've all arrived. If there is a problem, it shouldn't be with the Indian post.

 

Thanks John. Of course this could be a fake. I don't have a weight for it or size.

I can see an elephant, humped cow, sun and what appears to be a tree on a boat. There is something else that looks as though it has 3 ears, but I can't make it out. Can't see a match on IndiaCoins, but I am probably looking in the wrong place

 

I could be wrong, but my understanding is that most of these are so common that nobody bothers counterfeiting them. I'm sure there are rare types, though.

 

This won't be a rare one ! I just got it out of interest, it is highly unlikely that I will buy another.

 

Pish.. On one of them I could read : Year 1172 ( That must be AH Hegira ) and Mohammad Aziz El Din Alem or Aziz Addin Alem. It's half rupee. Hope that could help a little bit.

 

Charles, how in the world can you read that????

 

I was going to click Edit and say that I was spelling the first coin on that page. As for the Punchmarks, I have no single idea. Sorry.. Good luck anyway.

 

It is Magadha Karshapana (Karsha=Cash, Pana= Coin)and it is most likely series IV 5-4th century BC. Not rare, but the price is right. You can place this coin right before they become smaller and fatter.

Here is a brief overview...Yours looks kinda like GH 320.

http://coinindia.com/galleries-magadha.html

 

This is not of the Indian States this is comes from the time of the Maha-Janapadas or the Great Realms. Its is actually quite ancient.

 

Oh they counterfeit them for sure!

Want to see a rare(ish) one?

India
Kingdom of Magadha
Bimbisara to Ajatasatru
AR Karshapana (BC 550- 470)
28 mm x 3.42 grams
Obverse: 5 Large Punchmarks and one bankers mark(?), Archaic bent rayed sun, Bow with Arrow, 6 rayed design, Bull head circle Bull Head, Large Solar symbol, center Tree(?)
Ref: G&H Series I (Variation)

 

Ah, one less collector to compete against.

 

I didn't expect this coin to be so much interesting as I realize now. Well may I ask how far in History could ancient Indian coinage go back. The Indians seem to have equaled or even outstripped the Greek coinage !??

 

Thanks Noob, it would have taken me forever to figure that. I will take your description as "probably"

 

totally worth picking that up pish, i looked at it. i picked this up off of the same seller a couple weeks back for the same price.

 

Is it just the rarish ones that get counterfeited, or the common ones as well. And how do you tell? It would seem quite easy to counterfeit punch-marked coins and have them look ancient.

 

check out this page, i'm not always sure...but on some, it's just a strange "style" of the punches, weight and sizes.

http://www.ancientcoins.ca/fakepunchmarks/fakes.htm

 

Given a quick check, it looks to me like GH 354 (Gupta/Hardaker, 2nd ed, p. 156, series IVa): six-armed symbol, sun, plant-on-hill (symbol 329), bull, elephant. Rated XR (1 or 2 known). Caveat: it really was just a quick check on my part. That being said, "extremely rare" doesn't necessarily mean extremely valuable. The fact that Gupta and Hardaker counted no more than two in their survey does not mean that many more do not exist.

 

Are these symbols available online anywhere?