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        By 1717, the British started to produce Mughal money at the Bombay Mint, with permission from the Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar. The British gold coins were called ‘carolina’; ‘anglina’ was the silver coin, and ‘copperoon’, the copper coins. Tinnies were tin coins.

           A century later, the British rose as the most dominant power in the country. In 1835, they enacted the Coinage Act for uniform coinage. As a primary step, coins with images of William IV were issued in the same year.

Continue reading “Why is it said that the arrival of British changed Indian coinage system?”

Even though the British left India in 1947, the coins they issued remained in use till 1950. The first coins made since then belonged to the ‘anna series’. They were traditional in design, and followed the metric system.

Introduced on August 15th, 1950, the coins of the anna series replaced the king’s portrait with the lion capital of the Asoka pillar. It represented peace and non-violence. The one rupee coins also had a sheaf of corn on one side. Sixteen annas together made a rupee.

The pillar and the corn images were among the many Indian motifs that appeared on the coins, post-independence.

The introduction of the ‘decimal series’ took place in September 1955, with the Indian Coinage Act. Thereafter, a rupee consisted of 100 paisas instead of annas or pice. You could say annas and pice were ‘demonetized’.

The naya paise were minted in the denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50. In 1964, the word ‘naya’ was dropped.

Nickel, cupro nickel, bronze and nickel brass were the metals used in coins till 1963. Later, coins made of aluminium were used. Since 1992, coins were minted mostly in stainless steel.

All these coins came out in different shapes. While most of them were circular, some were also hexagonal, 8-scalloped, and square in shape.

In June 2011, all the coins in the denominations of 25ps were taken out of currency.

The country’s first bimetallic coin – of Rs 10 – was released in 2005 under theme of ‘unity in diversity’. 

         Commemorative coins are usually issued to pay respect to an important person, or to celebrate a special occasion.

         The first such coin in modern India was issued in 1964. It had a portrait of Jawaharlal Nehru, and was issued to commemorate his birth anniversary. Since then, many coins have been issued by our country for general circulation. Coins from 5 paise to Rs 150 have been made for commemoration. Most of them were not for circulation, but for preservation as specimens.

             In 1985, the country issued three coins dedicated to Indira Gandhi. To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the International Labour Organization, India issued three coins on October 27th, 1994. In 1996, a commemorative coin was issued on the World Population Day.

            There were also coins minted to celebrate the platinum jubilee of the Reserve Bank, the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore and the 1000th year of establishment of the Brihadeeswara Temple. In 2016, coins were issued to mark the 150th anniversary of the Allahabad High Court.          

          You might know by now that the rupee is a currency used by many countries in the world, including Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, and the Maldives other than India. But do you know where the word ‘rupee’ came from?

          ‘Rupiye’ is known to have been derived from the Sanskrit word ‘rupaa’ which means ‘silver’ or ‘made of silver’. Further, ‘rupaa’ is believed to have sprung from the Dravidian word ‘uruppu’, which means a ‘member of the body’.

          References about ‘rupiye’ first appeared in ancient texts. Arthasastra, a legendary work by Chanakya mentions ‘rupyarupa’ in the context of silver coins. He also used the terms suvarnarupa, tamararupa and sisarupa for gold, copper and lead coins.

          However, the introduction of ‘rupiya’ to Medieval India was made by the Afghan ruler Sher Shah Suri, sometime between 1540 and 1545. Rupiya was the term used for silver coins weighing 178 grains. The coin remained in use throughout the Mughal and the Maratha periods, as well as in the British India.

       Over the years since its introduction, the Indian rupee has gone through significant changes. We saw that the rupee coin was first introduced by Sher Shah Suri. During his time, 40 copper coins amounted to a rupee. This was accepted by the Mughals as well.

        The Bank of Hindustan was established by the British. In 1770, one rupee notes were published in the Bank of Hindustan. Following this, some private banks too issued banknotes.

        In 1861, the Paper Currency Act was passed, making it a rule that only the government could issue currencies.

          In 1935, the Reserve Bank of India was inaugurated, and it took over as the government’s body to issue currencies. The first note it issued was that of five rupees, bearing the image of King George VI.

          The first note to be published after the Independence was a one-rupee note. Since then, many changes have come to currencies. A bank-note of 10,000 rupees was printed and circulated, making it the highest denomination issued. Over the years, many currency notes were demonetized, and new series were introduced. 

      We saw that the first bank note to be issued after the Independence was the one-rupee note with the symbol of the lion capital. Starting from 1951, inscriptions on notes were made in Hindi too.

      The following years saw many changes in currencies. Various themes were adopted, including the advancement of the country in science and technology. Even in the latest banknotes that appeared recently, there was a new theme Mangalyan.

      Many notes were introduced, and many were demonetized over the decades. In 1954, there were note of denomination including 1000, 5000, and 10,000. In 2010, the new currency symbol of rupee was introduced, that which we still use.

      All these notes, if you look at carefully, have an inscription of ‘Satyamev Jayate’. This was an addition made in 1980.

      In the latest banknotes issued in November 2016, there are a few more additions. The use of Devanagari numerals also marks a change from tradition.