At the beginning of the sixth century BC there was no paramount power in
India. It was divided into large number of independent states.
According to the Buddhist text, they flourished shortly before the time
of Gautama Buddha. The Janapadas issued their own coins which dates
between 6th to 4th centuries BC. All the earliest Indian coins known so
far are of gold, silver, copper, lead. The coins are made by punchmark
technique in which one to five symbols are punched on the obverse side
of the coin. The reverse side has some minute bankers mark which
certifies the purity and weight of these coins
