Rare AE punchmarked 1/2 karshapana, Haryana, c.143-73 BC, Sunga Kingdom, India

Description

Four different punchmarks (shown below) / Single punchmark. 10x9mm, 0.73 grams. Mitchiner -; MACW -;Gupta/Hardaker 2014 #618 var.
These are some of the latest punchmarks ever made. They are unpublished in any standard references and I've never before seen this type for sale. The find-spots of similar coins is supposedly somewhere in Haryana, though it is possible that this type is a very late type struck in Vidisa. The last ruler of the Mauryan dynasty was Brithadratha. He was killed by his own commander-in-chief Pushyamitra Sunga in 185 BC. With the fall of Mauryas, India lost its political unity. Pushyamitra Sunga became the ruler of the Magadha and neighbouring territories. The north-western regions comprising Rajputana, Malwa and Punjab passed into the hands of the foreign rulers. The kingdom of Pushyamitra was extended upto Narmada in the south, and controlled Jalandhar and Sialkot in the Punjab in the north-western regions. Pushyamitra died after ruling for 36 years (187-151 BC). He was succeeded by son Agnimitra. This prince is the hero of a famous drama by India's greatest playwright, Kalidasa. Agnimitra used to hold his court in the city of Vidisa, modern Besnagar in Eastern Malwa. The power of the Sungas gradually weakened. It is said that there were ten Sunga kings.