3rd century BCE. - Lanka
Ruhuna - `Punch Mark' G&H#450 Silver

These earliest known coins were small pieces of metal, generally of silver, punched with Mint marks. The usage of these Karshapana in Lanka is mentioned on inscriptions and the Mahavamsa and Arthashastra which mentions types of coins issued in the 3rd century BCE.

SPECIFICATIONS
AlloySilver
TypeStruck
Height15.3 mm
Width15.4 mm
Thickness1.7 mm
Weight3.03 gms
ShapeRound
 OBRW_G75_pmc_gh450_obverse OBRW_G75_pmc_gh450_reverse
OBRW G.75; G&H #450

Obverse : Sun (Authority of Magadhan Empire) (GHS #468);
Six arm symbol on Wheel: 3X Arrow - Taurine in Frame (GHS #444);
Bull on five arch hill (partly visible) (GHS #350);(series IVd)
Two small Taurine on each side of Standard (T) and one larger on Top (GHS #246);(series IVd)
Elephant facing right (GHS #1);
Reverse : Small indistinguishable symbols in a field.

These punch-mark coins (PMC) are cataloged with classification proposed by P. L. Gupta and T. R. Hardaker (1985) in Indian Silver Punched-marked Coins: Magadha-marura Karshapara Series, Nasik, as G&H #450, which is listed as an extremely common type.

Punch-marked coins from a single hoard of 28 Imperial Punched-marked and 4 Lakshmi plaques found in a Terracotta money box (I.1) found in Akurugodella are illustrated in the 1999 catalog Ruhuna. An Ancient Civilization Re-visited by Bopearachchi and Wickramasinhe (OBRW), G.59-G.86 Plates 9-11. This coin is Plate Specimens G.75 in this book. Click here for longer discussion and links to other Plate Specimens from this book in this collection.

Text from
* Ceylon Coins and Currency By H. W. Codrington. Colombo 1924
  Page 16 Chapter III Ancient Coins - Edlings - Plate 1

The coin was scanned at 600 dpi and is displayed at 400 dpi. This coin ex: Raja Wickramasinghe, is from part of Lalith Raddella's collection I purchased in 2016 December.