Indian Old Currency: September 2011

Saturday, 10 September 2011

Old Indian 20 and 100 Rupees notes

Old Indian Rupees

The Indian rupee (Hindi: रुपया) (sign: ; code: INR) is the official currency of the Republic of India. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India. [1]
The modern rupee is subdivided into 100 paise (singular paisa). The coins have nominal values of 5, 10, 20, 25 and 50 paise as well as 1, 2, 5 and 10 rupees. The bank notes are available in nominal values of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 rupees. The Indian rupee symbol () is an amalgam of both the Devanagari consonant “र” (Ra) and the Latin letter “R” without the vertical bar. The design was presented to the public by the government of India on 15 July 2010.[2] Previously, the abbreviation Rs. was used and the Indian rupee did not have a symbol of its own

Indian 10 paise(commemorative) - III

10 paise: world food day,1982

Weight: 2.3gm
Metal: Aluminium
Diameter: 26mm
Mint: Calcutta

10 paisa, world food day, 1981

10 paise, save for development

Note: Large 10, small emblem

East India Company half pice

East India Company quarter anna, 1858

East India company 1/12 anna

East India company half anna

Half anna reverse: the coat of arms

This half anna coin was minted in 1835 and is definitely not easy to find. It is a large coin about the size of a half crown or the Nehru 5 rupee. On the reverse we can see the coat of arms of the East India company.

The East India company was founded for trading purposes. After a rival company challenged the monopoly of the company , the two companies were merged to form a single entity which came to be known as the honourable east india company or company John or company Bahadur. The company traded mainly in silk, cotton, indigo dye, spices and opium. In time it came to rule a significant portion of India through its various policies. The company enjoyed various monopolies and exemptions from the British monarch and this caused lots of resentment in its competitors. In spite of this resentment, the company enjoyed enormous power and profit for almost 200 years.

The East India company first came to India during the reign of Jahangir somehwere around 1616. They came as traders initially, but in time their interest went towards control and domination of the country which was full of wealth. They started to interfere in the affairs of the different states and also started to exercise military control and assumed administrative functions as well. The princely states grew increasingly uncomfortable with the policies of the East India company.

A decisive stage as regards the company rule in India came with the Battle of Plassey in 1757. The Nawab of Bengal Siraj-ud-Daula had to wage a battle with the company led by Lord Clive, whose numbers were vastly inadequate as compared to the numbers of the Nawab's army. But clive had made a secret pact with Mir Jafar, who controlled quite a significant portion of the Bengal army. Mir Jafar had been promised the throne of Bengal by Clive. So when Jafar's troops did not take part in the battle, the morale of the Nawab's army went down; but still their numbers were about 4 times those of Clive's army which consisted of 950 Europeans and about 2100 Indian sepoys. There were moments when the English could have left the battle but a cannonball strike killed the army chief Mir Madan and the resulting confusion and chaos turned the tide in Clive's favour. The English gained control of Bengal following this battle and this also rang many a bell in the Indian princely states.

The British continued to deploy this policy of divide and rule quite effectively for the next 100 years to gain domination of the different states. They enetered into agreements with different states if they were considered strong enough so as not to be easily conquered, but later annexed them as and when there came a time of internal strife or rule by some ineffective and weak prince. Another notable policy was the doctrine of lapse, which refused to recognize an adopted heir, and in the case the company took over the reins by default. A case in point would be that of Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi, who was the adopted heir of Nana Saheb Peshwa and fought with all she had till the bitter end.

The British had certain practices which invoked the ire of the ruling princes and the masses alike. The rulers were annoyed in the least to have their powers usurped like it was nothing , and the peasants had to pay heavy taxes. The use of the Enfield rifle was very controversial as the cartridge which had to be bitten of was thought to be comprised of pork and beef, so it was sacrilege to both Hindus and Muslims alike. This was the cause of the sepoy mutiny of West Bengal heralded by Mangal Pandey was the trigger for the first war of independence, 1857.

After this revolt, the reins of the East India company went to the British monarch, Victoria at that time and effectively ended company rule. The company was finally dissolved on 1st Jan, 1874.

Israel Lira

Israel Lira

Half Lira, 1969

The obverse shows a Menorah or a Hanukkah having 7 candle stands flanked by sprigs. This is the national symbol or emblem of Israel. It is also their coat of arms. The menorah has a special place among the Jews. It gained its place in Jewish folklore during the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid monarchy when the Jews lighted a menorah with enough oil for one day, but it miraculously lasted for 8 days until another one could be found. So menorahs having 8 stands were also created , and ones even having 9 slots for candles with the centre one being an auxiliary candle used to light the other candles. Menorahs have different styles but the one on the coin is the original one.

1 Lira, 1977

The obverse shows stylized pomegranates.

Weight: 9 gm

Metal: copper-nickel

Diameter: 27.5mm

The Hebrew language is definitely hard to understand and so far I have not been able to make any head or tail of it. I do not get even the number system, I have got to know the dates on these coins by looking up in a table.

50 paise: Jawaharlal Nehru(English)

50 paise: Jawaharlal Nehru (Hindi)

The Jawaharlal Nehru 50 paisa coin had two versions: one having the name written in Hindi, and the other in English. This is the second version.

The Hindi inscription reads 'Jawaharlal Nehru', who was the first prime minister of republic India. He is usually depicted wearing a cap.

Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889[1]. – 27 May 1964) was a major political leader and pivotal figure in the Congress Party, and the first and longest-serving prime minister of independent India, serving from 1947 to 1964. As one of the founders of the Non-aligned Movement, he was an important figure in the international politics of the post-war era. He is also referred to as Pandit Nehru ("pandit," Sanskrit, "scholar", as honorific) and in India, as Panditji (-ji, honorific suffix).

The son of the wealthy Indian barrister and politician Motilal Nehru, Nehru became a leader of the left-wing of the Indian National Congress at a remarkably young age. Rising to Congress President under the mentorship of Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru was a charismatic, radical leader, advocating complete independence from the British Empire, and was eventually recognised as Gandhi's political heir. A life-long liberal, Nehru was also an advocate for Fabian socialism and the public sector as the means by which long-standing challenges of economic development could be addressed.

Nehru raised the flag of independent India in New Delhi on 15 August 1947, and served as Prime Minister. Nehru's appreciation for parliamentary democracy coupled with concerns for the poor and underprivileged enabled him to formulate policies that often reflected his socialist leanings. Both as prime minister and as Congress president, Nehru pushed through the Indian Parliament, dominated by members of his own party, a series of legal reforms intended to emancipate Hindu women and bring equality. These reforms included raising the minimum marriageable age from twelve to fifteen, empowering women to divorce their husbands and inherit property, and declaring illegal the ruinous dowry system. His long tenure was instrumental in shaping the traditions and structures of independent India. His daughter Indira Gandhi and grandson Rajiv Gandhi served as the Prime Ministers of India.

50 paise, 1992

This 50 paise coin shows the denomination country and the four headed lion symbol on the reverse, and the date, mint mark, country, a map of India, and the Indian Parliament on the obverse.

The Indian parliament has two houses, namely the Lok Sabha and the Rajya sabha. The Lok Sabha is also called "house of the people" or the lower house. The members are elected directly by the people from different consitutencies, and these elected members choose or elect the prime minister of India. There can be at most 552 members in this house. The Rajya sabha is also known as the "council of states" or the upper house. Its members are indirectly elected by members of the legislative assemblies of the different states. The Rajya Sabha has 250 members in all. Elections to it are scheduled and the chamber cannot be dissolved. Each member has a term of 6 years and elections are held for one-third of the seats after every 2 years. The members of the Rajya sabha have to be distinguished members are essentially distinguished personalities in their respective fields.

fifty paise, 1972

Indian 50 paise coins-III

50 paise: 50th year of independence

The reverse shows the denomination, the country, and the four headed lion symbol at the top.

This coin was minted in the commemoration of the completion of fifty years of independent India. India got its independence in 1947, and this coin was minted fifty years after that, ie in 1997. The Hindi inscription reads "swatantrata ka 50van varsh", which means the 50th year of Indian independence. The same is written in English as well. The figure shows Mahatma Gandhi leading many Indians in the Indian freedom struggle. In particular, it depicts the event of Dandi march. The British had imposed a tax on salt, and Gandhi decided to do a salt satayagrah.

The Salt Satyagraha was a campaign of non-violent protest against the British salt tax in colonial India which began with the Salt March to Dandi on March 12, 1930. It was the first act of organized opposition to British rule after Purna Swaraj, the declaration of independence by the Indian National Congress. Mahatma Gandhi led the Dandi march from his Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, Gujarat to make salt tax free, with growing numbers of Indians joining him along the way. When Gandhi broke the salt laws in Dandi at the conclusion of the march on April 6, 1930, it sparked large scale acts of civil disobedience against the British Raj salt laws by millions of Indians. This event was very significant in India's struggle for independence.

The image shown on the coin's obverse, the Dandi March , has also been immortalized in various places as a statue, or rather a series of statues of Mahatma Gandhi and his followers.

50 paise: national integration

The reverse shows the denomination, country and the four headed lion symbol. The obverse shows the map of India, and a map within it. The small dots on the left are the Lakshadweep Islands, and the line of dots below the "national integration" inscription and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Hindi inscription above the map reads "rashtriya ekta" which means national integration. The date can be seen at the bottom.

See also: National integration UNC set

50 paise: 50 years of RBI

The reverse shows the denomination, country, the four headed lion symbol, and "satyamev jayate" is written in Hindi. It means : truth alone triumphs. This was a question to Jamal Malik in the movieSlumdog Millionaire, for which he took an audience poll. The movie recently won as many as eight Oscars.

The reserve Bank is the Federal Bank of India and performs the following functions:
1)Monetary Functions in India: Formulates, implements and monitors the monetary policy – to ensure price stability and optimum flow of credit to productive sectors.
2)Regulatory and supervisory functions in India: Prescribes broad parameters of banking operations within which the country's banking and financial system operates - to maintain public confidence in the system, protect depositors' interest and provide cost-effective banking services to the public.
3)Management of Foreign Exchange in India: Manages the Foreign Exchange - to facilitate external trade and payment and promote orderly development and maintenance of foreign exchange market in India.
4)Issuance of currency in India: Issues and exchanges or destroys unfit currency and coins - to cater the public with adequate quantity of supplies of good quality currency notes and coins. 5)Developmental functions in India: Performs a wide promotional functions to meet national objectives.
6)Other Related Functions: Banker to the Government of India: performs merchant banking function for the central and the state governments; also acts as their banker.
The inscription at the bottom on the obverse reads "swarna jayanti" which means golden jubilee. The same is written in English as well. The Reserve Bank of India can be read in English and Hindi both. The Reserve Bank was established in 1935, and completed its 50 years in 1985. The symbol on the obverse shows a lion and a palm tree. This symbol is the mascot of the Reserve Bank of India. This symbol was adapted from the lion and palm tree was taken from the golden mohur (15 rupees) of William iiii. The mohurs of William iiii were the first proof coins minted in India.

Indian 50 paise coins - IV

50 paisa: Mahatma Gandhi birth centenary, 1969

50 paise: grow more food

The reverse shows wheat ears. Wheat is the staple food crop in India. The writing in Hindi reads adhik ann ugao which means grow more food.

50 paise: 25 years of independence

On the reverse we can see a woman with a man holding the Indian flag, and in the background there is the Indian parliament. The writing on the right reads 25veen swatantarya jayanti meaning the 25th year of the Indian independence. India got its independence in 1947 and this coin was released in 1972, 25 years after the independence.

Indian coin set circa 1950s

1 rupee, 1954

Half anna, 1950

One anna , 1950

2 anna, 1950

1/4 rupee, 1955

Written at top: char ana meaning four annas

1/2 rupee, 1955

1 rupee, 1950

When India became a republic in 1950, the anna series was adopted for coinage purposes. 1 rupee consisted of 16 annas. As you can see clearly in this series, the denomination keeps on decreasing by a factor of two: one rupee, half rupee, quarter rupee(4 annas), two annas, one anna and half anna. All the fractions were consistently minted , with the one anna and two anna coins of 1955 coming under the category of low mintage coins; and are therefore rare and also having very high value. This design of one rupee was minted only in 1950 and1954, and that too only in the Bombay mint. After that one rupee coin came out only in 1962. The anna series was discontinued in 1955 and it was replaced by the naya paisa series in 1957. The designers had experimented with a one rupee coin reading "sau naye paise" meaning 100 new paise in 1960. Only 3 such pieces are known to have been minted and 1 such coin recently sold at an auction for 2.2 lakh rupees.

Indian 20 paisa

20 paise, 1970

20 paise, 1984

This 20 paisa coin was forged in Aluminium in 1983. It shows the four headed lion symbol at the obverse, and "satyamev jayate" is written in Hindi, which means truth alone triumphs. This was a question to Jamal Malik in the movie Slumdog Millionaire. The movie won as many as eight oscars today, that is, the day when I posted this 20 paisa post. India/Bharat is also written. The reverse shows the denomination and the year.

Twenty paisa, 1970:food for all

20 paisa Mahatma Gandhi

20 paise: Mahatma Gandhi birth centenary

I would take the second part to be the head in this 20 paisa coin, which shows the bespectacled figure of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who is known throughout the world for his non-violent approach in the freedom struggle of India. He was born in 1869 and was assassinated in 1948 by Nathuram Godse, one year after India got its independence. These twenty paisa coins were thought to be made of gold as they had a gold tone and were melted down in large amounts by ignorant and stupid people.

20 paise fisheries

The reverse shows two fishermen casting their net. The writing in Hindi reads 'Matsya Udyog" which means fisheries industry. Fisheries comes under food and agricultural organization. This coin is only one of the many released under FAO series.

India is a peninsula and has a very long coastline. A large number of people earn their livelihood through fishing, and this also provides for the food of thousands of people in India. The fishing industry of India has grown five-fold since its independence in 1947.

see also: fifty paise fisheries coin

20 paise, world food day

World Food Day was proclaimed in 1979 by the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). It marks the date of the founding of FAO in 1945. The aim of the Day is to heighten public awareness of the world food problem and strengthen solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty. In 1980, the General Assembly endorsed observance of the Day in consideration of the fact that "food is a requisite for human survival and well-being and a fundamental human necessity" India released commemorative coins on 16 October, 1982; and this 20paisa coin was one of those coins.

20 paisa: food for all

This twenty paisa coin, minted in 1970, was struck in brass. It has a gold tone. The obverse shows a lotus , which is the national flower of India. It also shows a sun at the top, and the legend reads food for all. The same thing is also written in Hindi. The reverse shows the denomination, the country and the four headed lion symbol. A series of coins were minted on food and related themes when India attained self sufficiency in foodgrains after a history of droughts and massive food shortages.

Indian two paisa, three paisa and five paisa

In 1964, a set of low value coins was released. These coins had denominations of 1,2,3 and 5 paisa. Later on 10 paisa and 20 paisa was also released. These coins were forged in Aluminium as they had very low value, and they are now out of circulation.

2 paisa, 1970

3 paisa , 1971

5 paisa , 1977

Before 1964, the set of coins was made of copper-nickel and they were called the"naye paise"

Two paisa , 1962

This coin was struck in copper-nickel. The obverse shows the lion symbol, and the reverse shows the denomination and the date. Also, we can see written in Hindi "rupaye ka pachasvan bhag" , which means 1/50th part of a Rupee. Also, "naye paise" meaning new coin can be seen written.

Five paisa , 1957

This five paisa coin was struck in copper-nickel. The obverse shows the four headed lion symbol, and the reverse shows the denomination and the date. We can also see "rupaye ka beesvan bhag" in Hindi, which means 1/20th part of a rupee, and also "naye paise" which means new coin.

Indian 5 paise- commemoratives

5 paise: food and shelter for all

5 paise: food and work for all

The reverse shows a tractor with utility pole and buildings.

5 paise: save for development

5 paise: Happy child-nation's pride

The 5,10,20 paise commemoratives were released at a time when India was striving hard in all aspects of human development and the focus was more on the basic needs like food,shelter and all. Many coins minted during this period had agriculture and farming related themes as we wanted to gain self sufficiency in food production.

Indian one paisa

Indian one paisa

1 paisa: aluminium

1 paisa: Bronze

1 paisa: Nickel-brass

This one is made of Nickel-brass alloy and was circulated from 1957-1964. It has a diameter of 17mm. This one paisa has the four headed lion symbol at the obverse, and one paisa and date on reverse. We can also see "rupaye ka sauvan bhag" in Hindi which means 1/100th part of one rupee.

One paisa/pice, 1952: horse

This is the copper one paisa, minted circa 1950s. The obverse shows the four headed lion symbol, and the reverse shows a horse, and the year. I have at least 5 such coins.

One pice/paisa , 1943: hole

The one pice or one paisa with the hole was circulated circa 1940s . It has one pice or paisa written in English, Hindi and urdu. And on the other side there is a sort of brocade or design. I have four such coins. This would have been minted under George VI, who was emperor of India at that time. It might be arguable as to which is the reverse and which is the obverse, at least I am not sure of it.