Rare and Expensive Coins of India

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Please note there are tons of Fake in Expensive coins. See the Articles on fakes here and here

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There are quite a few places where rare and expensive are interchangeably used. Further the usage of word Rare is so rampant in the coin collecting industry that it’s lost its meaning.

In essence rare means that something that is not easily found with most dealers. The coin may tend to be relatively expensive in its category, for example there could be coins that are rare, but are available in Rs 100 – Rs 200 range. Where as expensive would mean that the price of coin is more. This could be due to various reasons including the metal the coin is made of. For example Silver coins will always be more than Rs 1000/- but may not be rare, but easily available with every dealer.

There are less than a handful of coins that are rare in Indian coinage, in commemorative coins; there isn't a single coin that’s not available with decent dealer. In Commemorative coins, mint wise, there are a handful of coins that are rare and one would need to hunt down dealers that would have these coins.

On the other hand in definitive, there are very few dealers who stock the coins as the movement is slow. Hence even to complete a year series one would typically have to go to a specialist of Republic coins or hunt down the coins with few dealers. The problem is more compounded in case one intends to complete the series mint wise.

Rather than categorizing the coins as rare, I have tried to put together a list of coins that are expensive or valuable.


Very Rare / Expensive Commemorative Coins by Value
If one needs to complete the commemorative coins theme, the below coins would burn a hole in the pocket.

Theme	2010	2012	2014	2015	2016
1996 - Rs 2 - Neetaji Subhas Chandra Bose [*]	3500	3500	2500	2500	2500
1996 - Rs 5 - Crop Science Conference [*]	3500	7500	8500	8500	8000
2005 - Rs 5 - 75 years of Dandi March [Cupro-Nickel Issue] [1]	3000	1500	1200	1200	2000
2006 - Rs 5 - ONGC [Cupro-Nickel Issue] [1]				1000
2007 - Rs 5 - 150th Anniversary of Bal Gangadhar Tilakji	3000	1600	1500	1700	1200
2007 - Rs 5 – 150 Years of War of Independence [Cupro-Nickel Issue] [1]				3000	2500
1969 - Rs 10 - Mahatma Gandhi Centenary [*]	1100	1700	1500	1200	1000
1970 - Rs 10 - Food For All [*]	3000	3500	2500	2500	2600
1972 - Rs 10 - Independence Jubliee [*]	1100	1700	1400	1100	1000

[*] There are quite a few fake coins available in the market. Please be careful about such fake coins. This article lists some of the known commemorative fakes

[1] Most dealers sell coins broken from UNC set. There is a different circulation strike available. In all these issues, the coin broken from UNC set is cheaper than the circulation strike.

From 2011 to 2012:
The Price of Bose coin has remained more or less same. The Crop Science is going up by the day for some strange reason. The Dandi March is coming down, as there are quite a few Re-Strike UNC sets available at 3K that are broken and the silver coin is sold of for 3K and the Rs 5 coin for profit.

From 2012 to 2013:
The Crop Science is going up by the day for some strange reason with prices touching Rs 8000 for single coin. The Dandi March is coming down, as there are quite a few Re-Strike UNC sets available at 3K that are broken and the silver coin is sold of for 3K and the Rs 5 coin for profit.

From 2013 to 2014:
The Crop Science is going up by the day for some strange reason with prices touching Rs 8000 for single coin. The other coins are more or less of same price.

From 2014 to 2015:
The Crop Science is going up by the day for some strange reason with prices touching Rs 8000 for single coin. The Bose is slightly dropped price. One can get a good UNC coin for Rs 3K. The other coins are more or less of same price.

From 2015 to 2016:
Not much movement in prices.

Very Rare/Expensive Commemorative Coins by Value - Mint Wise

If one is a mint wise collector, he will have to bleed additionally to get hold of these coins. Quite a daunting task apart from the above.

Theme	2010	2012	2014	2015	2016
1982 - 25 Paise - IX Asian Games – Hyderabad –[ 1]	1000	2000	750	800	700
1982 - 50 Paise - National Integration - Calcutta	500	700	500	400	400
1985 - 50 Paise - Reserve Bank of India Golden Jubliee – Calcutta	300	500	500	400	300
1998 – 2 Rupees - Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das – Hyderabad	30000	35000	35000	35000	-
1969 - Rs 10 - Mahatma Gandhi Centenary – Calcutta [*]	2500	3000	2000	1500	1000
1970 - Rs 10 - Food For All – Calcutta [*]	3000	5000	3500	3000	2000
1972 - Rs 10 - Independence Jubliee – Calcutta [*]	1500	2000	2000	1500	1200

[*] There are quite a few fake coins available in the market. Please be careful about such fake coins. This article lists some of the known commemorative fakes

Note:

1. Proper 5 Star Mint Mark, The more widely available coin mis-sold as 3 Star [i.e. the bottom 2 stars are blurred] is actually Mumbai Mint mark variety. 
2. 1993  - Rs 2 - Land Vital Resource is not included as this coin was never put in general circulation[*]
3. 2002 - Rs 1 - Loknayak Jaya Prakash Narayan – Calcutta Mint is not listed as this is more of Die Clog than a Calcutta Mint issue.

Other Rare Commemorative Coins

• 1974 – 10 Paise, Planned Family: Food For All – Hyderabad Mint 
• 1982 – 10 Paise World Food Day – Calcutta Mint 
• 1985 – 25 Piase Forestry Development – All 3 Mints [MCH] 
• 1990 – 1 Rupee, World Food Day: Food For Future – Both the Mint [CH] 
• 1990 – 1 Rupee, 15 years of ICDS – Hyderabad Mint 
• 1992 – 1 Rupee, 50 years of Quit India Movement – Calcutta Mint 
• 1995 – 1 Rupee, World Tamil Congress – Hyderabad Mint 
• 1996 – 2 Rupees, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel – Noida Mint 
• 1995 – Rs 5 Tamil Conference – Noida Mint 
• 2002 – Rs 5 Dadabhai Naoroji – Hyderabad Mint 
• 2007 – Rs 5 Tilak Stainless Steel and Cupro Nickel

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Very Rare/ Expensive Definitive Coins by Value 

If one is collecting Definitive by Year Series, i.e. one coin of every year; the below would be the most expensive / valuable coins.

Definitive	2010	2012	2014	2015	2016
1954 - 1 Rupee	700	1200	1000	800	1000
1950 – 2 Anna	400	700	700	500	600
1954 – 2 Anna [*]	400	700	700	500	600
1955 - 2 Anna [*]	40000	50000	15000	20000	22000
1959 - 50 Paise	25000	45000	15000	15000	-
1970 - 1 Rupee [*]	3000	5000	4000	3000	4000
1982 - Rs 1 Coin [Small coin first issue] [*]	40000	35000	20000	15000	-
2004 - 1 rupee (Unity in Diversity)	300	550	400	300	300
2007 - 5 Rupee Unity in Diversity	100	750	750	700	600

[*] There are quite a few fakes of these coins. Refer to the post on Definitive Fakes for some of the known fakes.

Rare/Expensive Definitive Coins by Value, Mint Wise
If one collects by Year / Mint wise then the below coins are expensive and rare.

Definitive	2010	2012	2014	2015	2016
1953 - 1 Pice Hyderabad Mint	8000	25000	10000	8000	-
1954 - 1 Pice Hyderabad Mint	2000	2500	2000	3000	3000
1980 - 25 Paise, Mumbai Mint	20000	30000	23000	-	-
1988 - 50 Paise, CuproNickel, Noida Mint	5000	12000	13000	-	-
1989 - 25 Paise, CuproNickel, Hyderabad Mint	1000	6000	3000	2000	2000
1993 - 25 Piase, Hyderabad Mint	2000	4500	2000	2000	-
1993 - 50 Paise, Mumbai Mint	1000	600	500	500	-
1993 - 50 Paise, Hyderabad Mint	1000	600	500	500	-
2004 - Rs 5, Hyderabad Mint	100	500	300	300	200

Note:
1. The Rs 1 coins from 1971 to 1974 are not listed as these were never available for circulation

Relatively Rare Definitive Coins

• 1954 – 1 Pice – Hyderabad Mint
• 1955 – 1 Pice – Hyderabad Mint
• 1950 – 2 Annas
• 1954 – 2 Annas
• 1955 – ¼ Rupee
• 1964 – 5 Paise – Hyderabad Mint
• 1966 – 1 Paise – Calcutta Mint
• 1967 – 10 Paise – Hyderabad Mint
• 1967 – 25 Paise – Mumbai Mint
• 1969 – 2 Paise
• 1969 – 5 Paise 
• 1973 – 10 Paise – Hyderabad Mint
• 1974 – 10 Paise – Hyderabad Mint
• 1976 – 10 Paise – Calcutta Mint
• 1978 – 50 Paise – Mumbai Mint
• 1980 – 50 Paise – Calcutta Mint
• 1983 – 50 Paise
• 1984 – 25 Paise – Hyderabad Mint
• 1989 – 50 Paise – Calcutta & Hyderabad Mint
• 1991 – 10 Paise – Aluminium – Calcutta Mint
• 1992 – 2 Rupees – Cupro Nickel – Noida Mint
• 1993 – 10 Paise – Aluminium – Calcutta Mint
• 1993 – 50 Paise – Mumbai Mint
• 1997 – 10 Paise – All Mints
• 1998 – 10 Paise – All Mints

Note: If Mint mark is not specified, then its issued from Only one Mint.

20-Aug-2013: The 1969 - 5 Paise from Mumbai mint is not longer rare. If news is to be believed someone found a hoard of these coin. It goes to show that price fluctuations can at times create havoc. Something that the investors should know. For collectors it is always a good thing to get hold of coins cheaper.