For this week’s Banknote of the day, we will be visiting the beautiful country of India. Where the window between the past and present, is just a banknote away. We’re going to explore India’s 10 Rupees from 2018 and time travel back in time with Mahatma Gandhi himself!
Background Information on The Banknote of the Day
Indian banknotes are not only extremely detailed, but have a large array of symbolic monuments, sculptures and pictures. Indiana’s currency has always been Rupees. This traces back to Ancient India in the 6th century BCE. Ancient India was one of the earliest issuers of coins in the world. There was a period in the late 1800s when gold was on the uprising, so the historical silver coined Rupee lost value. European colonies caused the panic of 1873, which resulted in a decline in the value of silver in comparison to gold! Several countries, including India, switched over to the Gold exchange standard to save the value of the currency.
Who is Mahatma Gandhi?
“Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist, who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India’s independence from British Rule, and in turn inspire movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. “
Wikipedia, 2016
Gandhi is seen on several Indian banknote series from 1992 all the way until the most current circulating series. Gandhi may be one of India’s most influential people not only as a staple for India, but for the world. As of April 26th, 2019, current circulating banknotes are in denominations of $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 from the Mahatma Gandhi Series. The most recent circulating banknotes are the Mahatma Gandhi New Series. They are in denominations of $10, $20, $50, $100, $200, $500 and $2,000.
The Indian 10 Rupees from 2018
On the Obverse, there’s a photo of Gandhi himself as well as the Coat of arms. On the reverse, there is a photo of the motif of the Sun Temple, Konark, painting a vivid portrait of the country’s cultural heritage. This temple is dedicated to the Hindu Sun God Surya. What remains of the temple complex has the appearance of a 100-foot, high chariot with humongous wheels and horses, all carved from full stone. Till this day nobody knows how the temple was destroyed. The cause of the destruction is unclear and remains a source of controversy in the country. Theories range from opposite spectrums from natural damage to purposeful destruction of the temple in the course of being attacked several times by Muslim armies between the 15th and 17th centuries. However, nobody knows for certain how it was destroyed. Today, because of the efforts of British India-era archeologists, there is a restored makeshift temple in its absence. It is still a place where Hindus meet every year for the Chandrabhaga Mela around the month of February.
Security Features Must Knows…
Some of the following Security features include:
- An RBI windowed security thread that reads ‘भारत’ or “Bharat in the Devanagari script”.
- The watermark on the banknote is the exact image that is on the banknote of Mahatma Gandhi.
- The Serial number of the banknote is printed two times in fluorescent fibers and optically variable ink.
- Lastly, additional security features like machine-readable security thread, electrotype watermark, and year of print appears on the bank note have appeared since 2005 on newer banknotes. It is forever changing and becoming more efficient and secure.
