Rare and Expensive Currencies of India

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.

There are less than a handful of currencies that are rare in Republic India.

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

One Rupee:

1. KRK Menon, the first issue is priced around 5,000 to 7,000.
2. K. G. Ambegaonkar both the 1950 and 1951 Issue are in the range of Rs 1000
3. H M Patel 1957, A Inset with Title as Secreatry is also in the range of Rs 1000
4. L K Jha, Inset B, Only comes in Single Prefix of "Y" is around Rs 4000 to Rs 5000
5. S Bhoothalingam issue of 1964 is the most expensive one rupee note and aprox priced at 10,000 to 15,000 depending on the condition. A full bundle of this is in the range of 30 lacs.

Two Rupees:
All the Issues of Benegal Rama Rau are expensive, the most expensive one being the first issue, also called "Gujrati Note" as the numeral is not in English but in Devnagari, as to why it got called Gujrati and not Hindi I don't know.

1. The First issue is in the range of Rs 3000 to 4000 
2. Second Issue of Rama Rau are in the range of Rs 1000
3. Third Issue of Rama Rau , Rs 1000

Five Rupees:
The First and Third issue of Benegal Rama Rau are expensive

1. First Issue, Value in English Only is around Rs 3000 to Rs 4000
2. Third Issue, Value in English and Corrected Hindi is in the range of Rs 3500 to Rs 4000

Ten Rupees:
The first note of Republic India was the Rs 10 signed by CD Deshmukh,

1. CD Deshmukh is in the range of 20,000 to 40,000
2. The Second note [First issue] of Benegal Rama Rau with value in English only is around Rs 1000
3. The Third Issue of [Second issue] Benegal Rama Rau with value in English and Error in Hindi is around Rs 1000
4. The M Narasimham with Sailing Dhow, B Inset is in the range of Rs 1000

Twenty Rupees:
The S Jagannathan note both with Wrong Kashmiri and Right Kashmiri are expensive

1. S Jagannathan, Parliament House, Wrong Kashmiri, Rs 1000
2. S Jagannathan, Parliament House, Right Kashmiri, Rs 2000 
3. M Narasimham, Konark Wheel, Rs 2000

Fifty Rupees:
The first issue of S Jagannathan along with M Narasimham are the most notes

1. S Jagannathan, Parliament House, Rs 3000
2. M Narasimham, Parliament House, Rs 3000
3. YV Reddy, No Inset, No Year, Rs 1000

Hundred Rupees:
There are quite a few Rs 100 notes that are very expensive.

1. First Issue Benegal Rama Rau, English Only, Rs 10,000
2. Second Issue, Benegal Rama Rau, Black Number, Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000
3. Third Issue Benegal Rama Rau, Rs 10,000 
4. Fourth Issue Benegal Rama Rau, 2 Elephants Ek 100 Rupye, Rs 10,000
5. HVR Iyengar, 2 Elephants, Rs 6000 to 7000
6. HVR Iyengar, Dam, Rs 2500 to 3000
7. PC Bhattacharya, Dam, Rs 2500 to 3000
8. PC Bhattacharya, Smaller Notes, Dam, Rs 1500
9. LK Jha, Gandhi, Rs 1500
10. BN Adarkar, Gandhi, Rs 2500
11. S Jagannathan, Dam, Wrong Kashmiri, Rs 1500
12. S Jagannathan, Agriculture Activity, Cobalt Blue, 15,000 to 20,000
13. K R Puri, Dam, Pale Blue, Rs 1500
14. M Narasimham , Agriculture Activity, Cobalt Blue, 15,000 to 20,000
15. Manmohan Singh, Multi Colour, Rs 1000
16. YV Reddy, G Inset, Rs 1000

Five Hundred Rupees:
- None


Thousand Rupees:

1. N. C. Sen Gupta, Temple, Rs 13,000
2. K R Puri, Temple, 25,000

Note:

Notes of Rs 5000, 10,000 and 50,000 are all rare.
Some Star Notes are very rare and expensive and are not listed as there is no fixed price, There is a huge fluctuation in the prices of these star notes.