User:Ceosad/sandbox/Mashaka

Mashakas (or Masakas) are a form of ancient Indian punch-marked coins.

Overview
Mashaka is a very small denomination of a silver coin. They weighted approximately 0.1g – 0.14g in silver, and were stamped by a single device to add a Mauryan (or other) symbol. Mashakas made of copper did also exist.

Mashakas were worth one-sixteenth of the value of a karshapana.

History
Michael Mitchiner held a belief that some mashakas were already in circulation at the time of Janapadas. However, no coin hoard or other material evidence has been found to support this claim.

Widespread use of mashakas in the northern and central India supports the idea that they were the small money used in the Maurya and Shunga Empires.

Analysis of the symbols and hoards suggests that masakas were an official subsidiary silver currency in the Mauryan empire. They seem to have come into existence around 320 BC.

Early masakas were made of purer silver but worse issues appeared soon. Some debased masakas feature a copper core coated with silver. Debased specimens are found abundantly.

Mashakas have been found by gold washers in the various tributaries of the great rivers of northern and central India.