This is a silver bent-bar and punch-marked coin from the Janapada (Vedic era) of Gandhara, one of the biggest kingdoms in ancient India. The term shata-mana translates to 100 ‘manas’, a unit of measurement, and these were in circulation in the 6th century BCE. The characteristic feature of all Gandharan shatamanas was the six-armed round symbol stamped on either end of the bar. Slowly, the concept of punchmarked coins spread beyond Gandhara to the south and was later minted in many other regions of northern and central India. The Shatamana coinage system continued for a long period, probably until Chandragupta Maurya conquered Gandhara in 300 BC. After that, short-debased, silver-plated, and copper-bar issues were minted. The original silver Shatamanas, though, are extremely rare coins in India.