An exclusive interview with an Indian rupee coin

An exclusive interview with an Indian rupee coin

INDI: Thank you Indian rupee coin for agreeing to this interview with The Indi Times

RC: It is my pleasure.

INDI: Can you tell our audience something about your past?

RC: Sure. My ancestors lived around 700 BC in Aegina Islands which is one of the Saronic islands of Greece. In India, it is believed that the first coins were circulated around the 6^th century BC. If you wanted to know about the modern India coin, there is a very interesting story. Would you like to hear it?

INDI: Yes, please let us know the story of Indian currency coins.

RC: We immigrated to India with the East India Company who used to own us. Post the 1857 revolt, we were owned by the monarch. So, the British India coins are usually divided into EIC (East India Company) issues and Imperial issues.

When India became independent in 1947, my ancestors were already in circulation. They were not taken out of circulation but they remained active but their numbers did not increase.

INDI: Sorry to interrupt. What do you mean when you say that their numbers did not increase?

RC: What I meant was that they were frozen. This means while existing coins were allowed to be used, new coins were not made. This was important as it is nearly impossible to replace all of us at the same time.

INDI: Understood. Please go ahead.

RC: In 1950, my first modern ancestor was minted. It was an one rupee coin.

INDI: Were only one rupee coins printed at that time?

RC: No, there were other denominations too including 1/2 Re, 1/4 Re, 2 anna, 1 anna, 1/2 anna and 1 pice coins. These were called the anna series.

INDI: We have all heard about annas but what exactly is it?

RC: The anna series is also called the pre-decimal coinage. One rupee was split into 64 pice. 4 pice equals 1 anna. So, 16 annas were equal to a rupee. 4 annas were equal to 16 pice or 1/4 of the rupee.

INDI: That is very interesting. So, 1 rupee was not equal to 100 paise?

RC: (Smiles) This is where most people get confused. Remember I told you this was the pre-decimal coinage. In the pre-decimal coinage 1 rupee was equal to 64 pice. In 1957 my decimal based ancestors were born. Now 100 paise was equal to 1 rupee.

INDI: How did people differentiate between your pre-decimal ancestors and your decimal ancestors?

RC: If you notice the coins minted between 1957 and 1964(takes out a 25 paise coin), you will notice the legend “Naya Paisa”. For people who know Hindi, they would realise that this means this actually means “new paisa”(chuckles).

INDI: It looks like we can continue this discussion on your past for ever! But we need to move on. Can you share with us the names of some eminent people whom you portrayed?

RC: Our clan has respected everyone who has made our country proud. From Mahatma Gandhi to Shivaji, from Jawaharlal Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi have been featured in commemorative coins. In fact, the 1982 Asian Games were also featured in a coin.

INDI: What are you made of? I mean how are you so strong? We hardly see damaged coins.

RC: Thank you for the compliment. My 10, 20, 50 paise coins were originally made of stainless steel. In 1992, a 5 rupee coin was introduced which was made of cupronickel. My 10 rupee brother is made up of two metals – aluminium bronze and cupronickel. He is the first bi-metal coin in the country. We are all so proud of him (thumps his chest in pride).

INDI: Originally, the rupee notes had the higher denominations while the small “change” were the coins. Why are we seeing higher denominations in coins now?

RC: It is to reduce the cost. Printing 2,5,and 10 rupee notes is quite high.

INDI: Sorry, I am not able to understand that. How can printing on a piece of paper be more expensive than minting coins?

RC: Ok. There are two factors to it. One, rupee notes cannot be printed on a normal paper and with a normal printer. A number of security features have to be incorporated to prevent counterfiet. The second factor is that the rupee notes tend to get disfigured much more easily than us. We are quite rugged. So, if you choose to go with us, your cost of replacement is negligible.

INDI: What was the controversy over your 2 rupee coin cousin which was minted in 2006?

RC: Oh that! (rueful smile). My cousin had some characteristics which were different from all of us. He was more rounded and simpler in design. He did not carry the map of India with him. The biggest complaint was that he was not easily recognisable by the visually impaired.

INDI: We are running out of time. What would be your suggestion to our readers who want to know more about you?

RC: The most authoritative source of knowledge about us and our family is the RBI official site at rbi.org.in. In fact, when we have arguments within our family, we go to the RBI to get it sorted out.

INDI: Thank you for taking the time to discuss with us. It was very informative.

RC: Thank you for featuring me in your knowledge newsletter. We are generally not given as much importance as we deserve. Imagine a cricket match or a foot ball match starting without us (with a twinkle in his eyes). Or imagine what would happen when there are no coins to fill in a piggy bank.. I could go on an on.