Welcome Note

Welcome to the site for Republic India Coins.
This site will have all the information about coins of republic India, be it commemoratives or Prof sets. It would also have section for regular coins, suggestions of what to collect and tons of information about storing the coins.

Navigating the Site:
Either Click on the Site Map Tab and click the link of interest.
Or browse through the Index with articles grouped as per common theme.
Currently the Site has complete info on Circulation Commemorative Coins and quite a few useful articles on a broad range of topics.

The Proof Set & UNC information about India Coins is now complete.
Please use Index to browse through all the information or you can search for the topic of your interest.

Comming Next:
Over the next few month, The Definitive Coins of India.

Coin Bookings

27th May 2012
Kolkata Mint has announced the booking of the following coin sets,
- 150 years of CAG. Proof Set at Rs 4240/- and UNC Set at Rs 3925/-
- 150 years of Income Tax. Re-Booking. Proof Set at Rs 4240/- and UNC Set at Rs 3925/-

The booking are open from 28-May-2012 to 28-July-2012. The sets can also be booking online via the Website.

Mumbai Mint has announced the booking for the following coins Sets, 100 years of ICMR and 100 years of Civil Aviation. The bookings are open from 2-May-2012 to 30-Jun-2012. Proof Set are priced at Rs 350 and UNC Set at 3200.

Booking of Single Coin Sets from Hyderabad Mint: [Booking Closed]

Hyderabad mint has come up Single Coin sets booking for various sets. The booking are open from

14-Dec-2011 to 29-Feb-2012.

The sets are

Rs 2 XIX Commonwealth Games

Rs 2 Louis Braille [Re-Booking]

Rs 5 Mother Teresa

Rs 5 Rabindranath Tagore

Rs 5 1000 years of Brihadeewara Temple

Rs 5 C Subramaniam

Rs 5 Dr Rajendra Prasad

Rs 5 XIX Commonwealth Games

Rs 5 Shahid Bhagat Singh

Rs 5 Income Tax

Rs 10 Ter-Centenary of Gur-Ta-Gaddi [Re-Booking]

Bookings for C Subramaniam: [Bookings Closed]
Mumbai mint is accepting booking for Proof and UNC Set of C Subramaniam. The booking are open from 2-Jan-2012 to 29-Feb-2012. The coins are also available over the counter at the Mumbai Mint.

Re-Booking of Rabindranath Tagore: [Booking Closed]

This is the 4th time that re-booking of Rabindranath Tagore sets were invited. For the first time booking for a Single Coin proof set of Rs 5 was also available. Teh booking are open from 16-Aug-2011 to 20-Sep-2011.

Fake Indian Coins and Currencies - Part 3 - Fake Currencies

Like the fake coins, there are quite a few fake currency notes as well in circulation. There are quite a few fakes that are put into circulation by Unfriendly countries with the intention to destabilize our economy. These are difficult to detect as the design is same as that of the actual currencies. This section does not list such currencies, but rather lists the currencies that were printed to deceive the collectors.

1995 Rs 1

The last Rs 1 note was printed in the year 1994 after which this was discontinued. However the 1995 Fake makes quite a few rounds in the market. The price it commands is quite high than some of the other genuine currencies.

CD Deshmukh Rs 5

These are quite popular with collectors. At times these go for as much as Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000/-. CD Deshmukh was the RBI governor before Independence and continued as the first governor of RBI after Independence. Before Independence he has signed quite a few notes of denominations Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 100. After Independence the first note was of Rs 10. This was the only note signed by CD Deshmukh post Independence.

 

Type 2: 5 Deer’s

Type 3: 7 Deer’s

Images Comming Soon

CD Deshmukh Rs 10 Note

As the original Rs 10 note was and is still quite expensive, there are quite a few of the replicas created to dupe the collectors. The most popular being 3 peacock and 1 peacock notes

.

A Rs 100 denomination was never issued by CD Deshmukh. The only note signed by CD Deshmukh was the Rs 10. The first Rs 100 note was by second governor, “Benegal Rama Rau”. This fancy note goes with the description of Snake & Eagle. Another fancy note goes with the description of Snake & Eagle. Notice that it says East India Company. As to why CD Deshumkh would sign a note with East India Company when the Reserve Bank of India was already established is hard to imagine. But the unsuspecting collectors seldom have knowledge of things

CD Deshmukh Rs 100 Note

Rs 10 Note – 3 Peacock and 1 Peacock Varieties

The Original Peacock notes were issued beginning from around 1970 to around 1990 before the design was discontinued and the Shalimar Garden design was adopted. The Original Peacock notes have 2 Peacocks at the back [along with other animals] and were signed by S Jagannathan, K R Puri, M Narasimhan, I G Patel, Manmohan Singh and RN Malothra.

The Trick: Unlike the CD Deshmukh notes, the forgers this time followed a simple trick. They got hold of a genuine Note by these governors and reprinted a portion of the note. This is easy to do with a good quality scanner, a color printer and an image editing software. All one needs to do is scan the image of the note, edit such that one only copies the peacock. Put the note back in the printer and print off the 3^rd peacock. After a few trial and errors, one would get an exact position. The colors themselves blend with the background and are difficult to identify as re-printed.

 Authentic Tag: Now if one looks for tell tale signs like design details, the Watermark, the security thread, the feel of paper or other such feature’s they would all pass this test with flying colors, because the note is genuine. There were quite a few stories going about these notes as to they are actually errors or oddities and hence these are not catalogued.

To add some twist to the tale, the forgers at times took slightly used notes for reprinting so that it gives the note a more authentic look.

Some even challenged that show it to any banker and he would certify that these are original Notes.

They even post pictures of the note clearly showing the watermark and other details [see images below for one such instance]. Even when one is buying face to face, and see’s the note he is convinced that it’s a original note.

The Obvious: If you see enough samples of these notes, you would notice that the third peacock is not exactly at the same position; there is a difference at times in few millimeters. This is because individual notes are taken and printed, often leading to alignment mismatch.

The Original Note

 

S Jagannathan

Here the peacock from left upper hand is taken, scanned, cut and then reprinted on the bottom space to show it as a third peacock.

K R Puri

Here the Second peacock [upper right hand] is taken, scanned, cut and then reprinted on the bottom portion to give an impression of third peacock.

M Narasimhan

Similar to the KR Puri Note, the upper left hand peacock is used to create the third one.

RN Malothra

One Peacock:

One peacock is created by copying the tree feature from the bottom, notice closely the tree trunk; were the peacock should be present and you would see the additional tree portion. This is more easily identifiable.

Three peacock: Type A

This is similar to the S Jagannathan note were the peacock in the upper left side is used to create the 3^rd peacock.

Three peacock: Type B

This is similar to the KR Pure note were the peacock in the upper left side is used to create the 3^rd peacock. Notice in this the placement is more overlapping with the upper peacock, not sure it this is by error or on purpose.

Fake Indian Coins and Currencies - Part 2 Definitive Coin Fakes

A e.Book [Fake Coins of Republic India] of all the items is available as PDF on e.Bay.

The Part 1 of the article saw some of the popular fakes in the commemorative coins. This article lists of the fakes in the standard coins.
The next article describes some of the popular Fake Currencies that are in circulation amongst collectors.

1952 1/4^th Rupee [Char Anna ]

There was no issue that had an RBI logo on the back. All the early Indian coin design has the Ashoka Lion Capital as the emblem on the reverse.

The coin comes in 2 Varities

1950 Two Annas

The 1955 2 annas is one of the rarest definitive coin [See next section]. The 1950 2 Annas is fairly available. As to why someone went ahead and created a fake is beyond me. It’s possible that the cost to manufacture is now less and still can be sold to general public at large for a decent amount. The other reason could be that the forgers actually created the 1955 die, and at the same time created the 1950. However the designs look different (of the fake 1950 & 1955). Or maybe I haven’t come across the matching pairs of the 1955 & 1950.

As one does not routinely see the Anna coins, its difficult to make out that this coin is fake, unless you have the knowledge and are looking for finer details. Some of the differences easily noticeable are;

·         Distance between the letters more so the English, in the fake the distance is less. In the original the spacing is more.

·         Hump on the cow is very different.

·         The tail of cow is differently incline

·         The legs of the cow are thicker.

·         The line below the cow is more into the letters.

·         The mint mark is more rounded, than the diamond mint mark of Mumbai.

  

1955 Two Annas

 

The 1955 2 annas is one of the rarest definitive coin. The replica tries to en-cash this fact that its expensive and the coin ends up in the hands of collectors. At times collectors are so desperate to get their series complete that in spite of knowing that the coin is fake, the still do not want to believe it and buy the coin and convince themselves that their series is complete.

It is very easy to identify this coin, the lettering are very different on both sides. The face of the bull / zebu is also very different. The Ashoka Lion Capital although has very rich features, its easy to notice that this does not look like the ones on other real coins.

I have seen even reputed dealers selling this fake at exorbitant prices to gullible buyers.

 

1959 5 Paise Round Shape

A common technique used in British India and Republic India is to take a genuine used coin, and reshape it. Sell this as rare to unknowing collectors. The 1959 5 paise below was minted in square shape. This has been reshaped badly as round. There are other cases where the shape would be more perfect.

1972 5 Naya Paise Brass

There was definitely an 1972 issue of 5 paise. However this was in Aluminum. This is another one of the instances where the coin was minted to dupe the collectors. They went ahead and minted a 5 paise in the design of 1963 with Brass metal. Notice that there is the world “Naya”. This was dropped in 1964 from all the coins.
This coin comes in 2 Variations.

 

1972 20 Paise Mumbai Mint

The coin looks real and tries to con collectors who were collecting year series that was in vogue in the 80’s. There was no issue of 20 Paise in year 1972 from any mints. If you look at the coin closely, you can notice that the additional Lotus petals at the bottom. The Hindi Paise the letter fonts are different. The “2” of the 1972 is quite different and does not fit in with the other numerals.

1971 25 Paise

There are quite a few 1971 25 paise fakes in the market of various types. There was no coin of 1971 issued by any mint.

The coin looks real and feels real as well. However like all fake coins, there are tell tale signs. Notice the date and more specifically the ending number “1”. This is distinctly different from the beginning one. It looks like the forgers got hold of the die’s used to mint the 1974 coin and retooled the same die, to remove the 4 and make it look like 1. Or another possibility is they have taken a used 1974 coin and used a milling machine [lathe] to mill out the 4 as 1. The milling methodology is low risk gamble, as one just looses a 25 Paise and some time on a Lathe machine.

The coin comes in many variations. Given the populatiry I have seen a Hyderabad Mint coin with similar stuff, improved machining and also an actual design coin.

One Rupee of 1970:

The one rupee collection was at its peak in the 80’s and early 90’s. Quite a few of the Big One rupee coins were scarce or not readily available. Just after starting the luck with the 1971 to 1974 series, see below section, the forgers tried their hand at the 1970 coin.

There are more than 5 varities of this coin. A few varieties of them being re-tooled from a Original 1976 to make the 6 look like 0 or an 1979 coin to make the 9 look like 0.



One Rupee from 1971 to 1974:

The below coins look to be real coins, there seems to be nothing wrong or amiss in them. Noticing them more closely one can find the mint mark of Mumbai [Bombay], the small diamond. This is the catch. The One Rupee from the period 1971 to 1974 was issued only in Proof Sets. The coins were never released as part of general circulation. This means that the coins should have “B” mark as that was the mint mark used on the proof sets. There was a time, as with any craze people would collect the Rs 1 coin series. Taking advantage of this, the forgers out there minted these coins and sold at crazy prices to the buyers at whatever price one would get. Tasting success there the coins with Hyderabad mint mark also made there way in the hands of unsuspecting customers.

There are at least 3-4 Die designs including re-tooling. Some of the types are shown below.

Hyderabad Mint Coins of the 1971 to 1974

One Rupee 1984 & 1985:

Another interesting fake is the 1984 & 1985 Big [Dabbu] Coin as the older coins of 1976 to 1982 were called. Beginning 1983, the size of the Rs 1 coin was changed and it was made smaller. However not to loose an opportunity this coin was forged so be sold to unsuspecting customers.
There are atleast 5 die design of this series.

The 1985 coins comes in quite a few designs struck by different forgers at different times.

50 Paise 1992 & 1993 Fake:

This was a 25 paise Rhino design on a 50 Paise coin. There was no issue of 50 paise with Rihno; the Rihno was issued only with 25 paise

There are 5 major variations of this coin. Some of these are shown below;

Rs 5 Fake:

The shortages in coins lead to forgers minting their own coins. This time it was not to dupe coin collectors but to make money by putting these in circulation. And on hindsight one has to say they were visionariesJ. At the time when coins were minted using Cupro-Nickel these guys used Brass[1]. This reduced the cost to mint the coins. Putting these in circulation was quite easy, as they would sell these to shops and other establishments that had a perpetual shortage of coins. Quite a few of these were caught in the year 2005 to 2006 by government. So be on the look out when you handle your change everyday, you may land into one of these, more so if you are in Northern India.

Some of these coins made way to small time Coin Dealers who not to loose an opportunity, started selling them as OMS [Off Metal Strike] error coins. There are no known OMS error coins in Republic India.

These come with Year as 1994, 1997, 2002 and also with 2007 with IT waves theme.

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[1] The Government stated minting the coins in Brass only in 2009, after a brief experiment with Steel that did not work out well as the Rs 5 Steel coins were melted and converted into shaving blades. Quite a few entrepreneurs were caught in West Bengal where one Rs 5 coins would get converted into 6 shaving blades.

Rs 10 Fake:

This was in vogue after the new Rupee symbol adopted by India. This is supposed to be made of single metal and obverse contains the symbol of Rs, with number 10 in the outer ring, the year below. The obverse contains the Ashoka Lion Capital with the year below.

There are at least 4 types of fakes in circulation. Some of these are being sold as Trial Strikes, interesting stories every time a fake coin is in vogue.

Type1: Single Metal Fake

Big Rupee Symbol on the back. This was being sold much before the formal new coins design was released. Quite a few unsuspecting collectors fell to the trap to lay their hands on the coin.

Type2: Single Metal Fake with new design

Once the formal design was out, this was in copied using a single metal. It’s easier to mint a single mint coin. There are no coins issued by government in single metal for the Rs 10 denomination.

Type3: 2010 Hyderabad Mint – 15 Rays

The ingenuity of other countries to pump fake money into India by other means resulted in these coins having the same design and metal composition. The modus operandi was to pump fake coins and to get some monetary benefit, sell some of the coins to collectors using fancy means to recover the minting cost. There was no Rs 10 coin issued by Hyderabad mint in 2010. The Original Coin was minted by Noida and Mumbai Mint in 2010. There are some coins of Noida mint that do not have [or have weak] mint mark that are being sold as Kolkata mint coins.

This coin comes in 2 design variations.

Type4: 2011 Hyderabad Mint – 15 Rays

There was no issued of 15 Rays coins ever by Hyderabad mint in 2010 or 2011. Hyderabad mint began minting in 2011 using the new design of 10 Rays with Rupee Symbol.

It is surprising that these coins are building a story of their own. These days [2011] they are going in for anything between Rs 500 to Rs 5000. In some cases much higher than the original coins of the same period. It’s not always the case that they are mis-sold; there are sale happening even when the seller has clearly put out that these are fakes. Being a collector myself I cannot understand the reasons as to why there is such a large demand for such fakes.

Fake Indian Coins - Part 1 Commemorative Fakes

A e.Book [Fake Coins of Republic India] of all the items is available as PDF on e.Bay.


With the Coin collection becoming money making market, there are tons of fake coins that are being floated in the market.

The story of fakes makes very intereting reads and is fascinating. The sorty often mutates and eveolves and takes on a different life of its own. As years go by there are multiple versions of the story and one really forgets the origins or now is led to believe another lie.

Typically the story being on a popluar coin or design, a slightly different design and / or denomination is minted by the forgers. Hand in glove with some small time dealers, these are then circulated to unsuspecting novice buyer or investors as a rare coin. After a period of time typically couple of years down the lane, the forgery is detected and good dealers and other spread the news that there is a forged coin in circulation and one should stay away from it.

This leaves quite a few buyers who had paid high prices sulk, the forgers are also clueless as they would still have some amount of such coins that are minted.

 During 1990’s I had heard the story of the Bose rare coins [see below] as well as the Rs 1 coins of 1971 to 1974; when I was new and had just begin collecting coins. I did marvel at the coin, but at that time I did not believe in buying coins to complete a collection and always believed that one can complete a collection without buying.

Fast forward to 2010, and now the coins have taken on a new life. These are now sold as special coins for Tantrik or puja purposes. My friend narrated one story about how he was approached by someone through known persons who wanted the 1971 coin to photograph. He willing agreed. After a few days they came back again and said that their Tantrik baba has liked the coin, but wants to see it more closely and see if it has mystical powers. They claimed that the coin can do wonders if it falls in the right hands. Now whether it was to trick my friend into parting the rare guniune 1971 Rs 1 proof coin or whether they were looks for the fake Rs 1 1971 coin is hard to tell. But whatever it is, the story is definitely interesting.

If you know any more intereting stories, do let me know.

1969 – Rs 10 Gandhi

Made in Cupro-Nickel the coin is a dead give away in design for those who would have see the Original Silver Coin. There was no coin minted in Cupro-Nickel. Notice the lettering on obverse as well as reverse, its easy to figure this one. Also the Ashoka Lion Capital is very different.

1970 – Rs 10 Food For All

This fake was of made of Copper and not from the Silver alloy as the Original. It’s coated with silver to give it authentic look. It’s easy to distinguish this from the weight of the coin. Even in the design there are quite a few differences that can be easily noticed. Observe the Sun rays that are quite different. The Lotus is also different and does not have petals. The letters are of different font.

There are atleast 2 - 3 types of this fake in market.

 

 

1972 – Rs 10 Independence Jubilee

This fake was of made of Copper and not from the Silver alloy as the Original. It’s easy to distinguish this from the weight of the coin. If you have handled both the coins, this coin would be very light. There is a silver coating on it to give it the original look. Even in the design there are quite a few differences that can be easily noticed. The Dot on legend [25 ve] is missing. The Flag has additional thread on top left mast. The wheel is thicker. Even the Obverse there Ashoka Lion Capital is a dead give away.

1971 - 20 Paise Food For All:
The general scarcity of the 1971 proof set, let to the creative minds minting a 1971 - Food for All Coin in 20 Paise denomination for circulation. There was no coin put in circulation in 1971. The coin was available only in Proof and UNC Sets.

 

1972 - 20 Paise Food For All:

As the die was already made to strike the 1971 coin, the forgers also went ahead and minted a coin in the year 1972. There was no coin of Food For all in the year 1972.

Indira Gandhi with Rudrakshi mala

The popularity of Mrs. Indria Gandhi led to forgers coming out with a different design on an Rs 1 coin. The actual coins were issued in 50 paise and Rs 5 denominations and had a Bust of Mrs. Indira Gandhi. It should have been a dead give away that for the same occasion there will never be 2 designs.

Once this became popular, not to loose on opportunity and creativity, the forgers came up with a new story; so the variations in Rs 1 are the “17 beads” and “Om Rudraya Nomo”. The one with 17 beads is Very Rare the other one is less rare. And viola we also have a Rs 5 and Rs 10 coin.

This is the most popular fake in terms of design and denominations, with 3 major die designs and 5 denominations and quite a few variations. This is followed by the Fisheries in the commemorative series or by Rs 1 Dabbu coins if we consider the definitive series.

The Rs 5 comes in 2 Variations
The Rs 10 comes in 2 Variations
The Rs 50 comes in 1 VariationThe Rs 1 comes in 4 Variations

Rs 1 Coin "Om Rudrayia Namo"

Rs 1 17 Beads Coin of Ms Indira Gandhi

Rs 5 Coin

Rs10 Coin

Rs 50 Coin

Dr BR Ambedkar

The Dr Ambedkar coin was issued only in Rs 1 denomination. The creative artists decided to encash on the popularity of Dr Ambedkar and minted a coin in Rs 2 denomination. After getting detected as fake, it is now being sold to SC/ST who already believe & worship Dr Ambedkar. It gets sold as a special coin that is to be used for puja of Dr Ambedkar. Other coins are not good enough. The coin is put at par with other silver coins of hindu deities.
This comes in 2 Variations

Subhas Chandra Bose:

The Bose Rs 1 Coin where as the actual coin was in Rs 2 denominations. This is the 3^rd coin where a popular leader is being minted in a fake series to encash on the popularity of a figure. Notice the amount of wear on the coin. I am not sure how the coin got so much of it. But to an unsuspecting buyer it a proof that the coin is genuine as it was in circulation.

1986 Fisheries:

Another interesting fake is the 1986 Fisheries. Only next to the Indira Gandhi fakes, these come in quite a few varieties. It looks like the popularity [read scarcity] lead to quite a few forgers taking up this theme and making quick bucks. The design should have been a dead give away for someone who was into collecting. Quite a few times one gets carried away and buys without thinking rationally.

There are 4 Variations/Types of Fakes in this one.

1993 Small Family Happy Family

The 1993 Small Family Happy Family was issued only in Rs 2 denomination. The fake is in Rs 1 denomination. This and the Bose Rs 1 coin try to capture the popularity of a particular theme in one denomination to the other.

1999 Chhatrapati Shivaji

Another popular fake trying to capitalize on the popularity of the Chhatrapati Shivaji, more so in the Maharashtra state. The original coin was only in Rs 2 denomination. Plus the design is very different.

If you come across any more fake commemoratives, do drop a note so that I can update it.

For Definitive coins fakes and Fake Currencies refer to other article