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Throughout history, the right to Coinage and Currency and issues of sovereignty have been curiously conjoined, emotionally if not rationally. These issues stimulate debate even today.
The transition of currency management from colonial to independent India was a reasonably smooth affair. Midnight, August 14, 1947 heralded Indian independence from colonial rule. The Republic, however, was established on 26th January, 1950. During the interregnum, the Reserve Bank continued to issue the extant notes.
Government of India brought out the new design Re. 1 note in 1949.
Government of India - Rupee One
Symbols for independent India had to be chosen. At the outset it was felt that the King's portrait be replaced by a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi. Designs were prepared to that effect. In the final analysis, the consensus moved to the choice of the Lion Capital at Sarnath in lieu of the Gandhi Portrait. The new design of notes were largely along earlier lines.
Rupees Ten - King's Portrait
Rupees Ten - Ashoka Pillar
In 1950, the first Republic India banknotes were issued in the denominations of Rs. 2, 5, 10 and 100. There was slight variation in colour and design in case of Rs. 2, 5 and 100 notes. The ship motif on the reverse of Rs. 10 note was kept intact for the sake of continuity.
Republic of India - Rupees Two
Republic of India - Rupees Five
Republic of India - Rupees Ten
Republic of India - Rupees Hundred
In 1953, Hindi was displayed prominently on the new notes. The debate regarding the Hindi plural of Rupaya was settled in favour of Rupiye. High denomination notes (Rs. 1,000, 5,000, and 10,000) were reintroduced in 1954. High denomination notes were once again demonetised in 1978 for the same reasons as the 1946 demonetisation.
Rupees One Thousand - Tanjore Temple
Rupees Five Thousand - Gateway of India
Rupees Ten Thousand - Lion Capital, Ashoka Pillar
The small denomination of Rs. 2 and 5 of the early series depicted the fauna motifs such as tiger, bucks and doe, Sambar deers and gazelles. In 1975, a collage of motifs explaining India’s agricultural endeavour towards attaining self-sufficiency in food production found represented on Rs. 100 note depicting the activities of farming and plucking of tea leaves.
Bust of Tiger facing right on Rs. 2
Standing Tiger on Rs. 2
Bucks and Doe on Rs. 5
Sambar Deer on Rs. 5
Gazelles on Rs. 5
Agricultural endeavour on Rs. 100
The lean period of the early sixties led to considerations of economy and the sizes of notes were reduced in 1967. In 1969 a commemorative design series in honour of the birth centenary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi was issued depicting a seated Gandhi with the Sevagram Ashram as the backdrop.
Mahatma Gandhi Centenary Issues – Re. 1
Mahatma Gandhi Centenary Issues – Rs. 2
Mahatma Gandhi Centenary Issues – Rs. 5
Mahatma Gandhi Centenary Issues – Rs. 10
Mahatma Gandhi Centenary Issues – Rs. 100
Cost benefit considerations prompted the Bank to introduce Rs. 20 denomination notes in 1972 and Rs. 50 in 1975.
Rupees Twenty
Rupees Fifty
The 1980s saw a completely new set of notes issued. The motifs on these notes marked a departure form the earlier motifs. The emphasis lay on symbols of Science & Technology (Aryabhatta on the Rs. 2 note), Progress (the Oil Rig on Re 1 and Farm Mechanisation on Rs. 5 and Hirakud dam on Rs. 100) and a change in orientation to Indian Art forms on the Rs. 20 and the Rs. 10 notes. (Konark Wheel, Peacock, Shalimar garden).
Oil Rig on Re. 1
Aryabhatta on Rs. 2
Farm Mechanisation on Rs. 5
Peacock and Shalimar garden on Rs. 10
Konark Wheel on Rs. 20
Hirakud dam on Rs. 100
Management of Currency had to cope with the rising demands of a growing economy, together with a fall in purchasing power. The Rs. 500 note was introduced in October 1987 with the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi. The water mark continued to be the Lion Capital, Ashoka Pillar.
Rupees Five Hundred
Mahatma Gandhi Series
With the advancement of reprographic techniques, traditional security features were deemed inadequate. It was necessary to introduce new features and a new 'Mahatma Gandhi Series' was introduced in 1996. A changed watermark, windowed security thread, latent image and intaglio features for the visually handicapped were amongst the new features.
The new series also witnessed the introduction of Rs. 1000 denomination on October 09, 2000. Subsequently, on November 18, 2000, Rs. 500 denomination note was issued in changed colour and incorporating colour-shifting ink in the numeric value at the centre as an additional security feature.
Rupees Five : Size 63 x 117 mm
Rupees Ten : Size 63 x 137 mm
Rupees Twenty : Size 63 x 147 mm
Rupees Fifty : Size 73 x 147 mm
Rupees One Hundred : Size 73 x 157 mm
Rupees Five Hundred : Size 73 x 167 mm
Rupees Five Hundred : Size 73 x 167 mm
Rupees One Thousand : Size 73 x 177 mm
Security features enhanced
In 2005, the Mahatma Gandhi series notes witnessed enhanced security features such as wide colour shifting machine readable magnetic windowed security thread in Rs. 100 and above, denomination note numeric back to back registration in place of flower design as identification mark. No change was made to the ID mark in Rs. 5. Year of printing on the banknotes was introduced for the first time in 2005.
Rupees One Hundred with enhanced security features
Star Series
In 2006, “Star Series” was introduced on the banknotes to avoid re-printing of the defective notes with same serial number to maintain the sequence.
Rupee Symbol (₹)
In 2011, the Rupee symbol (₹), the identity mark of Indian rupee was introduced. The Bank and the Government of India together had formalised a unique symbol (₹) for Indian Rupee in 2010 and thus acquired a place in the select club of countries with a symbol for their currency. In 2011, the new Rupee symbol was incorporated in banknotes and coins.
Rupees One Hundred with Rupee symbol (₹)
Security features enhanced
Central banks worldwide adopt a standardised practice of periodic up-gradation of security features of banknotes to stay ahead of counterfeiters. In India, the last such up-gradation was done in 2005. In 2015, certain new features such as bleed lines on higher denominations and exploding numbers were introduced. The intaglio printing on the ₹ 50 and 20 was withdrawn in 2016.
Rupees One Hundred with enhanced security features
Rupee One denomination re-introduced
In 2015, Re. 1 was re-introduced by the Government of India.
Rupee One : Size 63 x 97 mm
Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series
The Republic of India witnessed the second major monetary reforms in November 2016 when it withdrew the legal tender status of ₹ 500 and ₹ 1,000 denominations of banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series issued by the Reserve Bank of India till November 8, 2016.
The new banknotes were introduced in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series, highlighting the cultural heritage and scientific achievements of the country. Distinct colours were used for different denomination and sizes reduced. Two new denominations viz. ₹ 2000 on November 08, 2016 and ₹ 200 on August 23, 2017 were introduced in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series.
Rupees Ten : Size 63 x 123 mm
Rupees Twenty : Size 63 x 129 mm
Rupees Fifty : Size 66 x 135 mm
Rupees One Hundred : Size 66 x 142 mm
Rupees Two Hundred : Size 66 x 146 mm
Rupees Five Hundred : Size 66 x 150 mm
Rupees Two Thousand : Size 66 x 166 mm |