Punch Marked Silver Bent bar Shatamana Coin of Gandhara Janapada

This is a silver bent-bar and punch-marked coin from the janapada (Vedic era) of Gandhara, one of the biggest kingdoms in ancient India. The term shata-mana translates to a 100 ‘manas’, a unit of measurement, and these were in circulation in the 6th century BCE. The characteristic feature of all Gandharan shatamanas was the six-armed round symbol stamped on either ends of the bar.