5 Rupees - Circulation Commemoratives - Lion Varieties - Part 0

The Link to All Artices is here

The Link to All Commemoratives is here

This is part of Commemorative Coins of Denomination 6;
Lion Varieties in Rs 5
Part 1 - Cupro Nickel Big Coins
Part 2 - Cupro Nickel Small Coins
Part 3 - Cupro Nickel and Stainless Steel
Part 4 - Nickel Brass
Part 5 - Nickel Brass with Rupee Symbol
Part 6 - Nickel Brass with Rupee Symbol Continued


This article gives the details of the Lion Varieties of Rs 5 Commemorative.

In order to easily identify the Lions on the Rs 5 denomination, I have put together all the Obverse dies used for Rs 5 and named them A, B, C etc. Note this naming convention is used by me and not a standard as used in “World of Coins” or any other catalog.

The first 2 issues of Rs 5 of Indira Gandhi and Nehru were bigger in size. The Obverse dies were new and created and used only with these coins. While the Gandhi coins had dots on the border the Nehru coins had teeth. There are die variations of the Nehru Obverse in Rs Five as well as Rs One denomination.

The Next Master die created in 1994 was used briefly for the ILO and 50 years of United Nations. The Master die was created by Calcutta Mint [Now Kolkata]. There were similar / same Lion design created even for the Rs 2 definitives [as well as commemoratives as in the Rs 2 series the Obverse dies are same]. Although quite a few dealers as well as Numismatists believe these to be Mules, its incorrect to classify them as such. These are mere die varieties.

In the year 1994 the Bombay [now Mumbai ] mint created a new die. This was one of the longest used dies. The same master die initially used for Cupro-Nickel coins was also used when the metal briefly changed to Steel and further to Nickel Brass. During this period there were quite a few other Master dies created, some like the Dotted design used only for Narayana Gurudev or other like the Toothed / flowery design or the the coin design similar to this Type D, but a small variation in the number 5. The Master die had the Numeral very sharp, see Type F.

Essentially the die / design used to create the Numeral 5 has 2 design, one that is rounded and thick the other that had very sharp features.

Through out 1994 to 2010, this was used as a spare die, incase there was a short fall in minting of a particular issue, this die type was used with quite a few coins strikes.

There was different master die created in 2002 with a flowery design on the periphery. The number Five was also sharp compared to the Type D die. This die was selectively used for quite a few coin struck in the period from 2002 to 2007.

The Type F dies were similar to the Type D, the prominent difference being the Rounded Five in Type D versus the Sharp Five in the Type F.

Compared to the Type E, the numeral Five is same, the difference is the border periphery that is plain in Type F.

Type G on the other hand is similar to Type F or Type E with the difference in periphery, use of dotted design.

The below gives out a very nice comparison of the numeral 5 as used in the previous dies Type D and other dies post that, Type E, F , G , H

Image Credits: Ole Sjoelund

The Kolkata Mint Lion came back again into use with the Steel Issues of 2006 for ONGC and SBI. The same design was carried forward to Nickel Brass issues of 2009 & 2010.

A new ide from Mumbai Mint with same Small Lion however a very different numeral 5 was used only for minting the RBI coin. Note there is a Proof Issue of C Subramaniam that uses this die for few strikes.

The introduction and adoption of Rupee symbol resulted in new Master dies by both Mumbai Mint and Kolkata Mint. These dies were interchangeable used by mints in various strikes, some issues certain mints only used one of the 2 dies and in some issues they have used both the dies resulting a rich die variety.

The adoption of Unity in Diversity for Definitives meant that the Obverse could be shared with commemorative issues. The Bhagat Singh was the only coin issued in that period. Due to controversy, the coins were put into circulation only in 2012 although the issue [including Proofs & UNC sets] were released way back in 2008.

The Mumbai mint makes minor changes in the master die, the width of the Lion is reduced, but maintains the same form and feature.