Punch-marked coins are a type of early Coinage of India, dating to between about the 6th and 2nd centuries BC. The first coins in India were minted around the 6th century BC by the Mahajanapadas of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, and certainly before the invasion of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC. The coins of this period were punch-marked coins called Puranas, Karshapanas or Pana. Some of these coins were struck by a single punch, thus carrying only one symbol. For example, Saurashtra had a humped bull, and Dakshin Panchala had a Swastika. Others, like the coins of Magadha, were struck by several punches (often five) and thus carried several symbols. These coins were made of silver of a standard weight but with an irregular shape. The blanks (un-struck coins) were made by cutting up s