Khissa Ek Rupaiya Ka - Dhaatu (The story of One Rupee)- Part 3 of 3

In the last two parts of Khissa Ek Rupaiya Ka (the story of One Rupee), I have discussed  (i) Chandi (when One Rupee was issued as a Silver Coin) and (ii) Kaagaz (when the Silver Coin was replaced by the One Rupee Note). In today’s post, I will discuss Dhaatu, i.e. the issuance of token one rupee coins made of nickel, cupro-nickel and ferritic stainless steel. 

During the transition period between India’s Independence on August 15, 1947 and the establishment of the Indian Republic, the existing coinage of the British era with the portrait of King George VI was retained. The new series of Republic of India coins were introduced on August 15, 1950. The one rupee coin was introduced in different metals in place of silver, to supplement the One Rupee Note. It was the concept of Token Coins. The One Rupee Silver Coin of weight 11.66 grams (1939- 0.917 silver) was followed by One Rupee Quarternary Silver alloy coin (1940- 0.500 silver), However, in 1947, it was replaced by the One Rupee Nickel Coin of King George VI, followed by the Republic of India One Rupee Nickel coin of weight 10 grams in 1950. In 1964, the cupro-nickel coin of weight 8 grams was issued which reduced to 6 grams in 1984 and ultimately was replaced by the Ferritic Stainless Steel coin of weight 4.85 grams in 1992 and then 3.79 grams in 2011. We see that not only did the metal of the One Rupee Coin change over time, but also the weight and dimension.

It would be interesting to understand the main issues which influenced the Republic of India coinage policy. These were primarily incorporation of symbols of Indian Independence replacing symbols of British Monarchy, introduction of the metric system and decimalisation, metallic value of coins becoming more than the face value leading to melting of coins for their metal value and cost-benefit of coins replacing currency notes especially from wear and tear perspective. 

Independent India Coin issuance can be sub-divided into the Frozen Series (1947-1950), the Anna Series (1950-1957), the Decimal Series (1957 onwards), the Unity in Diversity Series (2005-2006), the Nritya Mudra Series (2007), the Rupee Symbol Series (2011 onwards):

The Frozen Series (1947-1950)

Due to an increase in silver prices and scarcity of silver during World War II, the One Rupee Silver Coin (0.917 silver) of 1939 with the crowned head of King George VI on the Obverse, was replaced with a One Rupee Silver Coin (0.500 silver) in 1940. I am sharing a One Rupee Coin made of Nickel (given below) from my collection. This was issued in pre-independence British India in 1947, with the crowned head of George VI King Emperor on the Obverse and the Royal Bengal Tiger with face value written in English, Hindi and Urdu, year and country on the reverse which continued to be used in Independent India till August 15, 1950. These coins were minted at the Lahore and Mumbai Mint. The dot below the year on the reverse indicates that this coin (given below) was minted in Mumbai. Lahore Mint Coins did not have any mint mark below the year. These coin were the last coins issued by the British Empire and have since been demonetized.

                                                      Obverse                                          Reverse

King George VI            1947           Nickel  Weight 11.66 gm            28 mm

During the transition period till the establishment of the Indian Republic, the Indian Coinage remained unchanged from that of the British Era with One Rupee consisting of 64 Pice (1 Rupee = 16 Annas, 1 Anna = 4 Pice).

The Anna Series (1950-1957)

The first coinage of Republic of India was introduced on August 15, 1950 wherein the King’s Portrait was replaced by the Lion Capital of the Ashoka Pillar on the Obverse and the Royal Bengal Tiger was replaced by the corn sheaf on the Reverse of the One Rupee coin, symbolising the Independence of the country and the shift in focus to progress and prosperity. One Rupee, however, continued to consist of 16 Annas.

Metal	Obverse	Reverse
Anna Series 1950 Nickel Weight 10 gm

The Decimal Series (1957 onwards)

In September 1955 the Indian Coinage Act, 1906 was amended and the metric system of coinage and decimalisation was adopted by India from April 1,1957. The Rupee was now divided into 100 'Paisa' in place of 16 Annas or 64 Pice. The new decimal Paisa was called 'Naya Paisa' and it was only on June 1, 1964 that the term 'Naya' was dropped.

Metal Weight Size	Obverse	Reverse
Naya Paisa Series 1957-1964 Nickel  Weight 10 gm 28 mm
Paisa Series 1964 onwards Cupro-Nickel Weight 8 gm 28 mm
Cupro-Nickel Weight 6 gm 26 mm 1984

Ferritic Stainless Steel (1992), Unity in Diversity (2005-06), Nritya Mudra (2007), Rupee Symbol ₹ (2011)

On cost-benefit consideration and due to people melting cupro-nickel coins because of rising metal prices, stainless steel coins of one rupee were introduced in 1992 which were much lighter than the earlier coins. The considerable cost of managing one rupee note issue led to the full coinisation of this denomination in 1994 and dis-continuance of issuance of one rupee note which was, however, re-introduced once again in 2015.

Weight Size	Obverse	Reverse
Rupee One (1992) 4.85 gms 25 mm

 

New coin series – ‘Unity in Diversity’ (2005-2006) and ‘Nritya Mudra’ (2007) designed by National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad were introduced made of ferritic stainless steel with tactile factor for visually challenged persons. The Unity in Diversity coin has intersecting lines with 4 dots, while the Nritya Mudra coin has a “Thumbs Up” gesture. The Rupee symbol (₹) was introduced in 2011 in One Rupee Coins flanked by lotus buds and flowers with stems and leaves on both sides of the denominated value.

Weight Size	Obverse	Reverse
Unity in Diversity - 2005-2006                 4.85 gms                   25 mm
Nritya Mudra - 2007                 4.85 gms                   25 mm
Rupee Symbol (₹) - 2011                    3.79 gms                   22 mm

Currently, One Rupee Coins are minted at the India Government Mints located at Mumbai (mint mark small solid dot, Diamond, Letter B or M below the year), Kolkata (no mint mark as it was the first mint), Hyderabad (five pointed star) and Noida (small hollow dot). Interestingly, One Rupee Coins have also been minted at Birmingham UK (1985), Kremnica Mint Slovakia (1998 to 2001), Mexican Mint (1997), Pretoria Mint South Africa (1998 to 2000) and Royal Mint UK (1985).

From 1950 to 1968, the One Rupee Coins were issued only in 4 years - 1950, 1954, 1962 and 1964 and from 1969 onwards, it was issued every year.  However, the One Rupee Coins for the years 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974 are to be found only in proof sets. 

As we have seen, the One Rupee Coin was supplemented with the One Rupee Note, which was printed from 1917 to 1926, 1940 to 1994, and again from 2015 onwards.

My next post will be about Indian Commemorative Coins.

 

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[Republic India coins image source: RBI website] ã Sushil Kumar Mishra 2020

 

 

Rainbows, a Harbinger of Hope - in Nature, Philately and Numismatics

The world including India, has recently been at the receiving end of the fury of nature. 

COVID 19 has caused innumerable deaths worldwide leading to endless suffering, showing little signs of abating, with the other side of the bell curve yet to be seen in India and many other countries. To add to this mayhem, Delhi NCR (in seismic zone-4) has been hit by a series of ten low to moderate intensity earthquakes over the last one and a half months, indicating the likelihood of a major earthquake of Richter 6 or more intensity in the near future. 

The elements seem to be at war with mankind (for reasons better known to us) - Cyclone Amphan (satellite image above and pronounced as ‘Um-Pun’, name given by Thailand) meaning  ‘sky’, a super cyclonic category 5 tropical storm hit West Bengal, Odisha and Bangladesh on May 20, 2020 leaving a trail of destruction of homes, life and livelihood. The recent Cyclone Nisarga (named  by Bangladesh) meaning ‘nature’ and the first storm after 1891 to hit Mumbai, was predicted to cause great damage but thankfully, disaster was averted.

It is interesting to note how cyclones in the Indian Ocean are christened. The practice began in 2000 with a formula agreed upon in 2004. The name had to be neutral in regard to gender, politics, religion and culture, not hurt sentiments or be offensive, and had to be short and easy to pronounce, with a maximum length of eight letters. A list of cyclone names contributed by member countries was released in April, 2020 and the name ‘Gati’ contributed by India will be given to the cyclone occurring after Nisarga. 

Cyclones and hurricanes over the years have wreaked havoc to sailing boats, ships and coastal areas across the world and a number of countries have brought out stamps to remind us of the destruction.

                                                                               
                                                                        
                                                                   

Stamp of Tonga depicting a Sailing Boat in a Storm, Australian Stamp on Hurricane Tracy (1974) and US Stamp on Hurricane Katrina (2005)

Stamp of HMS Calliope which survived the Great Apia (Samoa Island) Hurricane of 1889

In the face of these natural calamities, I will, in today’s Blog, focus on a natural phenomenon, ‘A Double Rainbow’, which I recently witnessed for the first time in my life. It was an exhilarating and ‘AHA’ moment for me, one that made me admire God’s creation in its full glory. 

On May 31, 2020, a Sunday, we were watching some television while it was raining outside. Around 6.30 pm, my daughter Khushi suddenly said ‘The Sun has come out, it is an ideal condition for a rainbow- let’s go and spot it!’ We went to her room and spotted part of a beautiful rainbow and soon realised that it was a Double Rainbow! I realised that the other end of the rainbow appeared to be very close, so we went to the room on the other side where a magnificent sight awaited us, never seen by me before - an end to end double rainbow, clearly visible. I was able to take some beautiful photographs, which I am sharing below.

I shared these photos with some friends, who became ecstatic and wrote back:

‘Such a beautiful gift of Mother Nature ’; ‘Nature at its best is so fascinating’; ‘Very rare and pleasant sight.. wish I could have seen it once ’; ‘A rare and beautiful sight’; ‘You are lucky to witness this celestial display’; ‘Beautiful, good times to come’; ‘A sign of good fortune- we all need it’; ‘ Hope country will come out of this current crisis safely’; ‘Hope it brings good fortune… India needs it desperately right now’; ‘Aacche Din aaane wale hain’; ‘Very fascinating and creates hope’.

The Double Rainbow and the optimism shared by my friends left a deep impression on me, and this has inspired me to go deep into the enigma of rainbows, their meaning and significance as well as their inclusion in Philately and Numismatics over time, on this World Environment Day, 2020. 

What is a Rainbow? How is a ‘Double Rainbow’ formed ? Why does it make people happy ?

A rainbow is a multi-coloured circular arc made by light striking water droplets, directly opposite the Sun. It is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets, resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. In a primary rainbow, the seven colours are always in order of their wavelength, from longest to shortest. The arc, therefore, has red on the outer part, followed by orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet on the inner part. In my childhood days, we were taught a wonderful acronym “VIBGYOR” to remember the sequence of colours in a rainbow. Interestingly, while rainbows are full circles, only an arc formed by illuminated droplets above the ground is visible. Contrary to what one sees, it does not actually exist in a specific spot in the sky. It is an optical illusion!

In a Double Rainbow, a faint secondary rainbow appears above the primary rainbow. Double Rainbows are caused by light being reflected twice inside the raindrop. As a result of the second reflection, the spectrum of the secondary rainbow is reversed: red is on the inner section of the arc, while violet is on the outer.  The term ‘Double Rainbow’ is used when both the primary and secondary rainbows are visible. Theoretically, all rainbows are double rainbows, but since the secondary rainbow is typically fainter than the primary, it may be too weak to spot. Every rainbow is a circle, symbolising continuity and infinity, but usually only its upper half can be seen.

The dark area of unlit sky between the primary and secondary bows is called Alexander’s band, first described in 200 AD. The Greek scholar Aristotle (384-322 BC) was the first to give attention to rainbows.

A Double Rainbow is considered to be a symbol of transformation and is a sign of good fortune in eastern cultures. The first arc represents the material world, and the second arc signifies the spiritual realm. A double rainbow forms due to an optical illusion when sunlight enters a raindrop and creates two internal reflections before the rays exit the droplet. It is also known as the “Eye of the God”. 

It is difficult to photograph the complete semi-circle of a rainbow in one frame. From an aeroplane, one could possibly see a rainbow as a full circle. The sky inside a primary rainbow is brighter than the sky outside the bow. Apart from the rainbows caused by light from the Sun, they can also be caused by light from the moon and are called lunar rainbow or moonbow. They are much dimmer and rarer than solar rainbows.

Rainbows are often portrayed as bridges between people and supernatural beings. In the ancient beliefs of Japan and Gabon, rainbows were the bridges human ancestors took to descend to the earth. In Hindu mythology, a rainbow is an archer’s bow (Indra Dhanush) used by Indra, the God of thunder and war, who shoots arrows of lightning. In Hindu philosophy, the seven colours of the rainbow represent the seven chakras, from the first chakra (red) to the seventh chakra (violet).

In these Covid times, rainbows painted by children have been popping up in windows across the world, brightening the neighbourhood, some with slogans like “We Will Resist”.

Rainbows are a symbol of hope in many cultures and are a promise of better times to come. Judy Garland, who was one of the first icons in support of the LGBTQ+ movement, in the musical ‘Wizard of Oz’ sings the song ‘Over the Rainbow’ where she fantasizes about a place somewhere over the rainbow where ‘dreams come true’ and ‘troubles melt like lemon drops’ and the world is in peace and harmony.

The British Romantic Poet William Wordsworth in his poem ‘My Heart Leaps Up’ also known as ‘The Rainbow’written in 1802 was inspired by nature and describes the joy that he felt when he saw a rainbow and that he had felt this way since childhood -

My heart leaps up when I behold

A rainbow in the sky:

So was it when my life began;

So is it now I am a man;

So be it when I shall grow old,

Or let me die ! …

Stamp of United Kingdom (1991) on the poem ‘The Rainbow’

In Christian culture, a rainbow promises better times to come as in the Book of Genesis (Chapter 9), the occurrence of a rainbow is mentioned in the story of Noah’s Arc as a sign from God that he would never destroy all life on earth with a global flood again. 

Israel in 2008 came up with a series of stamps depicting Noah’s Arc and the rainbow

In Australia, the aboriginal people consider the rainbow as a spirit in the sky, a brightly coloured snake that appears to stop the rain made by their enemies. It is depicted in rock art dating back more than 10,000 years.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu in 1994 described democratic post-apartheid South Africa as a ‘Rainbow Nation’ alluding to its diversity and multi-culturalism, the ‘Rainbow People of God’. President Nelson Mandela called it ‘a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world’. The Flag of South Africa has six different colours and is considered to be a rainbow flag, as is evident from the above stamp.

Many countries have issued stamps featuring the rainbow :

Stamp of Ireland (Eire) identifying the rainbow with Love

Stamp of Germany with a short part of a full rainbow

Stamp of Greece (1935) showing Goddess Iris with a rainbow

Stamp of Great Britain (1981) – a disabled artist painting with foot a rainbow

Stamp of United Nations for peace showing a Dove and a Rainbow

Stamp of USA conveying Best Wishes with a Rainbow

Stamp of Hongkong China (2014) featuring the Rainbow

United Kingdom issued a stamp on the Irish legend of the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. The Irish leprechaun’s secret hiding place for the pot of gold they stole from the Vikings is said to be at the end of the rainbow, which is impossible to reach as a rainbow is an optical effect and cannot be approached. No one ever finds the pot of gold or the magical creatures as rainbows are circles and have no end.

A baby born after a mother has had a pregnancy loss due to a miscarriage or a stillbirth  is known as a ‘rainbow pregnancy’. However, in parts of Burma, rainbows are considered demons that threaten children. Tribes in the Amazon basin also associate rainbows with disease. 

The Rainbow Flag (also called the LGBTQ pride flag) is a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) pride and originated in San Francisco, USA in 1978 by Gilbert Baker and had eight stripes. The rainbow flag represents the diverse community itself, the diversity in sexuality. 

The first colour Hot Pink was removed as such a fabric was generally unavailable (1978-79) and Indigo and Turquoise were replaced with Royal Blue (1979) to have a six colour flag (with each colour having a specific meaning) -  red (life), orange (healing), yellow (sunlight), green (nature), blue (serenity) and violet (spirit). The flag is flown horizontally with the red stripe on top, as in a natural rainbow. 

For Buddhists, the rainbow symbolises the highest state that can be reached before Nirvana or Enlightenment. The Buddhist Flag is a rainbow flag designed in the 19^th century- a vertical arrangement of six bands representing the six colours of the aura which emanated from the body of the Buddha when he attained enlightenment.

Some countries have even issued coins featuring the rainbow:

The Royal Canadian Mint in 2016 in its Weather Phenomenon Series Silver Coins featured the brilliant colours of the rainbow on the reverse of the Canadian Dollar 20 (1 oz.) silver coin. You can see a violent storm is rolling through the open plains of Canada, with a farmhouse and barn in the middle ground. As the storm rolls on into the distance and the Sun cracks through, a flash of brilliant red, yellow, green, blue and purple shines through and comes to the ground in the field in the foreground in the form of a rainbow.

Silver Coin (2009) of Republic of Palau, an island nation in the Western Pacific Ocean depicting ‘Rainbow’s End’ with the pot of gold

A rainbow is a rare, fleeting and often unexpected gift from nature. Seeing it, one can feel both exhilaration and comfort from its beauty and implication of hope as a rainbow appears after a storm and signals a return to brighter days. The colours of a rainbow are light, fresh and happy and since they are so rare, they create a sense of awe and delight, in addition to the promise of sunshine with blue sky. That is why some people weep with joy or jump with excitement on seeing a rainbow ! 

May the recent occurrence of a Double Rainbow in Delhi NCR be a Harbinger of Good Times, Good Fortune for India and the world ! Amen !

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© Sushil Kumar Mishra 2020