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According to Gupta and Hardaker, the Series VIb coins date to c. 270-175 BCE, the time of the great Mauryan emperor Ashoka and his successors. Ashoka, of course, was the emperor who spread the word of the Buddha throughout his empire.
The reverse of this coin has a mark that repeats one of the official marks on the obverse, except that it is smaller. Almost certainly, this is an official mark, not a banker's mark, as the coins in this series almost always have these small versions of official marks on them. This one is the so-called "Taxila" mark ... a nice specimen with all five punches identifiable. From my personal collection. Purchased from Harlan Berk in 1998.
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