Inset's in Relation to Indian Currency

Significance of Inset's / Prefix's

Every Note issued one should be able to uniquely identify ... so to that extent Serial Number achieves this, however if you run out of serial numbers, you have 3 char prefix. In the older notes initially there was a Single Char Prefix that was increased gradually to 4 before settling to 3 Chars that one sees today.

The Change in Governors always means that one can restart the numbers [along with Prefix]. One can also play around with small design changes.

Devised quite early one way was to have different Insets in the number panel, these give the needed uniqueness to the notes printed early on. Although the practise existed before Independence, Post independence, the first usage of Inset was on the One Rupee Note in the Year 1955. The notes were signed by H. M. Patel. The usage was alphabetically for notes signed by different Secretaries and reached alphabet 'I', being signed by M. G. Kaul in 1976.

On the Five Rupee note the Inset was introduced from H. V. R. Iyengar in the Year 1957.

The Inset was an alphabet in upper-case in bold beside the serial number initially and later positioned beneath the serial number from 1976 onwards.

However towards 2005, with the amount of notes being printed grew, Inset alone was not sufficient to create the distinction and another identifier on the back, the year of printing was introduced to make it unique.

Insets are also used to determine which printing press has issued with notes [Similar to mint marks on the coins]. However each printing press uses more than one insets. It is not know which mint uses which Insets.



Bharatiya Note Mudran Nigam Pvt. Ltd., Salboni, West Bengal:
Inset 'R', Inset 'S', Inset 'T', Inset 'U' and Inset 'V'

Currency Note Press, Nashik (Nasik), Maharashtr :
Inset 'L', Inset 'M', Inset 'N', Inset 'P' and Inset 'Q'

Banknote Press, Dewas, Madhya Prades :
Inset 'E', Inset 'F', Inset 'G', Inset 'H' and Inset 'K'

Bharatiya Note Mudran Nigam Pvt. Ltd., Mysore, Karnatak :
No inset, Inset 'A', Inset 'B', Inset 'C' and Inset 'D'


From a collection point on view one can follow the following themes:
  • Per Design [does not consider Governors, only designs]. These should be around 3-5 designs per denomination
  • Per Design / Governor [Collect one ea of Governors. some governors have signed 2 designs, collect both]. Around 125 notes
  • All Insets, Governors, Designs. Around 575
  • Include Prefix on older notes ...

7 comments:

  1. Hi, Nice blog.. Is "K"inset notes printed ??

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  2. obviuosly k inset notes printed....infact black note with boat on back side 10rs notes of s.venkitaraman are scarce.

    ReplyDelete
  3. really helpful blog. After hours of searching the internet I stumble upon your blog and stick to it for a long time.I consider myself an armature collector, honestly your blog helps me with lot of questions and queries.
    about that I am requesting you to kindly make a list of "Per Design / Governor [Collect one ea of Governors. some governors have signed 2 designs, collect both]. Around 125 notes " this article. thanks for the blog. keep up the good work.
    god bless you

    ReplyDelete
  4. नमस्ते सर जी
    बहुत बहुत अच्छा लगा आपके द्वारा बताई बाते सरलता से समझ में आती है।
    धन्यबाद

    ReplyDelete
  5. When I searched, found the start of currency press of Mysore in 1999, Salboni in 2000, Diwas in 1975, Nashik in 1928. Therefore, the information of of using inset in currency from 1928 to 1975 all currency might be produced by Nashik, from 1975 to 1999 by Nashik and Diwas and from 1999 till date all four currency press are producing notes. First L, R, M etc. inset used by Bimal Jalan. I suggest the inset may be used different from 1949 to 1999.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for sharing the inputs. Insets were to achieve the distinction of notes. The press minting them would align to the dates you mentioned

      Delete
  6. Can I get all denomination issue details with governor name inset prefix year .....

    ReplyDelete