Lot 689: India, Magadha. 6th-5th centuries B.C. AR 20 mashas.

6th-5th centuries B.C. AR 20 mashas (24 mm, 4.68 g). Four official punches: Central 6-arm symbol, sun, bull left, lion left, plus a few banker's marks / Numerous banker's marks. Gupta & Hardaker 0.27; MATEC 2780-2. Extremely rare. Very fine. 

This coin belongs to the earliest, pre-karshapana issues of Magadha which are all extremely rare. They were not covered in the original edition of Gupta and Hardaker's seminal work on the Magadha-Maurya coinage. This coin belongs to an apparent third wave, which preserved the use of four official punches centered on the 6-arm symbol, but reduced the denomination to 20 mashas (approximately 4.4 g), as a stopover on the way to the later 3.49 g karshapana.

• Offered By: Barry P. Murphy
• Lot #: 689
• Listing #: 176536
• Closed: Friday, September 28, 2018 5:54:40 PM CT
• Estimate: $1,000