Indian Currency

Indian Rupee is the official currency of India. The issuance of currency is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 paise, currently, coins of Re 1 denomination are of the lowest denomination in use.

The symbol of the Indian Rupee is ₹, officially adopted in the year 2012. The design resembles both the Devanagari letter "₹" (र) and the Latin capital letter "R", with a double horizontal line at the top.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) prints and manages the currency in India, while the Government of India controls which denominations are to be circulated. The Government of India is solely responsible for the minting of coins. RBI is allowed to print notes up to Rs 10,000.

The coins issued by the Government of India under Section 6 of The Coinage Act, 2011, shall be legal tender in India.

Every banknote issued by the Reserve Bank of India (₹2, ₹5, ₹10, ₹20, ₹50, ₹100, ₹200, ₹500 and ₹2000), unless withdrawn from circulation, shall be legal tender at any place in India.

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History of Indian currency

Ancient Indian Coinage

Cowry shells were the first type of commodity money used in India. Shell money, which was once widely used around the world, is a trade medium similar to coin money and other kinds of commodity money. In Bengal (India), it required 3840 to make a rupee. Cowry, also known as kaudi, was the money of Orissa, India, until the British East India Company outlawed it and replaced it with the rupee in 1805.

Between 2500 BC and 1750 BC, the Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa civilizations in the Indus valley flourished. There, however, is no consensus on whether the seals excavated from the sites were coins. The Indus Valley civilisation may have used metals of fixed weights, such as silver, for commercial activity (dated 1900–1800 BC or 1750 BC).

Punch Marked Coins and Dynastic Coins

Early Indian coins with punch marks, sometimes referred to as Aahat coins, date to between the sixth and second centuries BC. It had an irregular form. The earliest known coins are considered to be "Punch Marked" pieces produced between the 7th ~ 6th BCE and the 1st CE.

⇩ Click to View Coins

History of Indian Rupees.

The word "rupee" is derived from the Sanskrit word "rūpya", which means "wrought silver", and maybe also something like a coin or image stamp.

During the Mauryan empire 3rd century BCE in Chanakya's Arthashastra, Gold coins were referred to as Suvarnarupa, Silver coins as Rupyarupa, Lead coins as Sisarupa and Copper coins as Tamrarupa.

Rūpa means to form or shape, for example, rūpyarūpa, ( rūpya – wrought silver, rūpa – form).

First Rupee

The first Rupee was released by Sher Shah Suri in 1540–1545 CE, that was a 178 grams silver coin called Rupiya.

First Paper Rupee

The earliest issues of paper rupees include; the Bank of Hindustan (1770–1832), the General Bank of Bengal and Bihar (1773–75), and the Bengal Bank (1784–91)

Value of the Indian Rupee

The historic currency i.e. Footi Kauri, Kauri, Damdi, Anna, Dhela, and Pai may be unknown to the young Indians, but the idioms linked with them are still in use.

1 Rupya = 16 Anna = 64 Paisa = 128 Dhela = 192 Pie = 256 Damdi

British Rule (1835–1947):
1 Indian rupee =16 anna =64 pice =192 pie.

Republic of India (1947–1957):
1 Indian rupee =16 anna =64 pice.

(1957–1964):
1 Indian rupee = 100 naye paise.

(1964–Present):
1 Indian rupee = 100 paise.

The Frozen Series 1947-1950

After independence on 15th August 1947, the British period currency and coinage arrangements were continued till 15th August 1950.

The Decimal Series

The Amended Act became operative on April 1st, 1957. The value and name of the rupee did not change. Instead of being divided into 16 Annas or 64 Pice, it was now divided into 100 "Paisa." The new decimal Paisa was known as "Naya Paisa" until 1st June 1964, when the name "Naya" was removed for popular awareness. The value is explained as being equivalent to one-hundredth of a rupee.

The Indian Rupee Sign

(₹) is the currency symbol for the Indian rupee.

On July 15, 2010, the Indian government formally adopted the D Udaya Kumar Dharmalingam-designed symbol.
On July 8, 2011, the first series of coins bearing the rupee symbol went into circulation.

The concept used to create the rupee symbol was also used to create a symbol for the paisa

Demonetisation

16 January 1978

A law passed in the Indian Parliament ( The High Denomination Bank Notes (Demonetisation) Act, 1978, of India ) ceases the usage of High-denomination bank notes with denominations of ₹1000, ₹5000, and ₹10,000.

8 November 2016

On 8 November 2016 the Government of India announced the demonetisation of ₹500 and ₹1000 banknotes.

Banknotes

Photograph of Gandhi printed on Indian Banknotes.
(Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Pethick-Lawrence)

The Promissory Note

I Promise to pay... is printed on the currency note just to ensure that the RBI has reserved the gold equal to the value of the printed currency. The promissory note under the sign of the RBI governor makes a currency legal tender.

₹20-Vertical rectangle ▮

₹50-Square ■

₹100-Triangle ▲

₹500-Circle ●

₹1,000-Diamond (demonetised) ◆

₹2000- Horizontal rectangle ▬

Intaglio shape - Identification Mark

An intaglio (raised) shape is present on all denominations other than the ₹10 note to help the visually impaired.

The Language Panel

The reverse side of modern currency notes has a language panel with 15 languages written in it. ( i. e. Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.).

Motifs on banknotes

The Reserve Bank of India issued ₹10 banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series with the motif of Sun Temple, Konark on the reverse, depicting the country's cultural heritage.

The Reserve Bank introduced the ₹20 note in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series. The note has a motif of the Ellora Caves on the reverse, depicting the country's cultural heritage. The base colour of the note is Greenish Yellow.

The new version of the ₹50 note has a depiction of Hampi with a Chariot on the reverse, depicting the country’s cultural heritage. The base colour of the note is Fluorescent blue.

Hampi, also referred to as the Group of Monuments at Hampi, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in east-central Karnataka, India.

The ₹100 banknote is a base colour of Lavender with the motif of Rani ki vav (Queen's stepwell) on the reverse side. The stepwell is situated in the town of Patan in the Gujarat state of India.

The ₹200 note has a depiction of Sanchi Stupa on the reverse, depicting the country’s cultural heritage. The base colour of the note is Bright Yellow.

Sanchi Stupa is a Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located in Madhya Pradesh.

The reverse side of the new ₹500 features a motif of the Indian heritage site of Red Fort.

Red Fort is a historic fort in the city of Delhi in India. It was the main residence of the emperors of the Mughal dynasty for nearly 200 years, until 1856. It is located in the centre of Delhi.

The new ₹2000 banknote is a violet shade coloured note. The reverse side features a motif of the Mangalyaan, representing India's first interplanetary space mission

The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan is a space probe orbiting Mars since 24 September 2014. It was launched on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)