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Kahāpaṇa

Kahāpaṇa

Kahāpaṇas from Kosala. Circa 525-465 BC.

Average diameter 25mm, average weight 2.70 g. Each piece with a variety of separate punch-marks applied to both sides.

1 kahāpaṇa = 4 pāda

1 pāda = 5 māsaka

Fun Indo-European Etymology Story27

The Sanskrit word for kahāpaṇa is kārṣāpaṇa.

The coins were called kārṣāpaṇa because they weighed one karṣa each, a weight measured in cowrie shells.

The English word, "Cash", seems similar to the Sanskrit word, karṣa.


Please understand that this is meant as a humorous element.