Brief History of Indian Notes and Its Categories

Currency notes in India have evolved in a big way right from the Early Indian notes issued by the East India company to the modern notes of India that were issued after independence. Let’s take a look at the brief History of Indian Notes today.

Major Categories
Currency notes of India can be classified into four major groups namely, early banknotes of India issued for Bengal Presidency, Bombay Presidency and Madras presidency; notes of India issued during the British regime; Princely state issues of Hyderabad, Notes issued by other colonial powers like Portuguese and French and finally the modern notes of India that were issued after independence.

Early Banknotes
The Bank of Hindostan was operational from 1770 to 1832. The General Bank in Bengal and Bahar was established by Warren Hastings in 1773. These banks issued Early Indian notes until 1775. The Bengal Bank was established in 1784 and was operational till 1791.

British India Notes
British India notes can be further classified into four categories namely, Portrait Note of Queen Victoria, Uniface Notes of Government of India, King George V issues and King George VI issues. Rare notes of India featuring a portrait of Queen Victoria were issued in different denominations such as 10 Rupees, 20 Rupees, 50 Rupees, 100 Rupees, 500 Rupees and 1000 Rupees.

Princely State Issues
Osmania notes of Hyderabad were the only princely state issues that were circulated within the Indian subcontinent. These beautiful old notes of India featured intricate designs and Persian texts. They were issued in denominations such as 1 Rupee, 5 Rupees, 10 Rupees, 100 Rupees and 1000 Rupees.

Colonial Notes
Colonial notes of India issued by the Portuguese bore denominations such as Rupias, Tangas and Escudos. They were mainly green in colour with maroon designs and lettering. Rare notes of India issued during the French regime bore denominations such as 1 Roupie, 5 Roupies, 10 Roupies and 50 Roupies.

Modern Notes of India
Finally, the first notes of Independent India were issued in 1949 bearing the denomination 1 rupee. For two years after independence, extant notes of British India were in circulation. The latest entry into the family of Currency notes in India are the violet coloured 2000 rupees note, new 500 rupees note, chocolate brown coloured 10 rupees note, light blue coloured 50 rupees note, orange coloured 200 rupees note, and new 100 rupees note.

Through the study of the History of Indian Notes, we can learn a lot about our country’s past!

Two Wonderful Notes of India from Colonial Period worth Collecting

The history of Indian notes will take you back to the times when India was under the British Regime. These Amazing old notes of India feature interesting designs and have a lot of stories to say. Let’s learn about two interesting notes of India, one which was issued by East India Company and the other which was issued by British India.

5 Company Rupees of Bengal Presidency  

These old Indian notes bore the denomination 5 Company Rupees and were printed on handmade White paper by the Bank of Bengal for circulation within Bengal Presidency during the colonial times. They were known as Uniface notes because they featured designs only on one side. The year date on these rectangular banknotes of the dimension 15cm X 28 cm was absent.
The vignette on these notes of India appeared on both sides in vertical panels and featured an Elephant with its Mahout. The text 'Union Bank' appears in English, Devanagari, Persian, and Bangla while the text 'Union Bank, Calcutta' appears in English on these old notes of India. The English text 'Calcutta' is surrounded by denomination in words in English, Bangla, Persian, and Hindi. The denomination appears in Roman, Devanagari, Persian, and Bangla numeral in corner panels of these currency notes of India. The Central Panel features Promise Text, Manuscript date, Manuscript serial number, Denomination in English, Devanagari, Bangla, and Persian numerals, 'Entd. By' manuscript signature, and 'Cashier' signature. The Watermark depicts the Ashokan Pillar. The text “on demand” appears before Promise text.

500 Rupees Uniface Note Featuring Queen Victoria

These rare notes of India were issued for Calcutta circle and bore the denomination 500 rupees. They were known as Uniface notes as they featured designs only on one side. They were printed on handmade white paper and featured a portrait of Queen Victoria.
The obverse of these currency notes in India featured a Profile portrait of Queen Victoria in a floral wreath; 'Government of India'; Serial numbers with prefix, promise text; Denomination in words in Bangla and Persian; Circle between printed mirrored dates on either side; Denomination in numerals in Persian and Bangla; The name of Sub-Circle is an overprint; Hand stamped signature at the time of issue 'For The Government Of India; Denomination panel in numerals and words.
The watermark of these old Indian notes depict the text GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, denomination in words and numerals, signature of Sir James Wilson, the finance member of legislative Council, signature of Lord canning, the Governor General. There are wavy lines in central promise text panel as well.

It is very difficult to find these beautiful Currency Notes in India with so much historical value. If you have similar Indian notes in your collection, do let us know!

Journey of Old Notes of India through Interesting Examples

The journey of Indian notes has been very fascinating right from early banknotes of India to republic of India notes. When you study and analyse this journey, you would be surprised to discover several unknown aspects about Indian currency, history and economics. Let us Understand the History of Indian Notes today by looking at certain interesting examples.

Early Banknotes of India

Bank of Bengal, Bank of Bombay and Bank of Madras issued early banknotes of India for Bengal presidency, Bombay presidency and Madras Presidency respectively.

These 10 rupees rare notes of India issued by Bank of Bengal featured a personified 'Commerce' sitting on articles of merchandise. The obverse featured the text 'Bank of Bengal' in Bangla, Persian and Hindi in a vertical ornate panel. Other inscriptions include the manuscript's serial number, manuscript date, promise text with denomination; 'Entered by' manuscript signature; denomination panel and the denomination in words.  The reverse featured the text 'Bengal Bank'; printer's name and type of plate used for printing while the watermark depicted the Ashokan Pillar.

British India Notes

British India notes can be further classified as portrait note of Queen Victoria, Uniface notes of Government of India, King George V issues and King George VI issues.

This uniface 10 rupees note of Queen Victoria was issued for the Calcutta circle on 9th May 1862. The obverse featured a portrait of Queen Victoria. Other inscriptions include the texts 'Government of India'; Serial numbers with prefix, the promise text; Denomination in words in Bangla and Persian; mirrored dates; Denomination in numerals in Persian and Bangla; 'For The Government Of India; Denomination panel in numerals and words. The name of Sub-Circle is overprinted. The signature on these old notes of India was hand stamped at the time of issue. The watermark featured the text GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, denomination in words and numerals, signature of the finance member of legislative Council - Sir james Wilson, the signature of the Governor General Lord Canning and wavy lines in central promise text panel.

So far, we have only looked at two examples from two different categories of Indian Banknotes. Apart from these types, there are princely state issues, colonial notes of India and the Republic India notes as well. Keep upgrading your knowledge as and when you keep adding new banknotes of India to your collection.


 

What makes Collectors fall in love with Indian Notes?

Money is what rules the world. If there was no money how would civilizations evolve? This power of money is what makes many collectors fall in love with currency notes. I have some friends who are into collecting Indian Notes. I always wondered what makes them want to pursue such a unique hobby. The most common hobbies that you would hear about is listening to music, playing a sport maybe. But this unusual hobby of collecting currency notes in India made me curious. 

Finally I went up to them and asked them why they are collecting Indian stamps. One of them answered saying that he loved history and by collecting Indian notes, he kind of stays connected with his field of interest. Thesn I questioned him further to find out what kind of Indian notes he likes to collect. He told me that he keeps looking out for currency notes in India that were issued when our country was colonised by the Portuguese, French and the British. I got a change to look at his amazing collection of Indian notes and was spell bound literally. I suddenly realised why he likes his hobby so much. I gazed at those lovely currency notes in India for almost an hour. Each note had a story to say. For the first time in my life I saw one-sided Indian notes. They had designs and inscriptions only on one side. 

Then I went up to another collector, he was different from my earlier friend. He liked collecting currency notes in India with fancy numbers on the serial number. For example, all ones or all twos. He had a certain terminology for each of these notes. The Indian notes he had with a serial number having the same digit were called super solid notes.

On that day I discovered that it is not really strange for someone to fall in love with the hobby of collecting banknotes!

Fancy numbers play a vital role when it comes to collecting Indian Notes

The term given to the study of banknotes is Notaphity. And when you have to study banknotes you would invariably have to collect them. So what are the facts and features about banknotes that excite and lure a collector? Well, that’s a very relative question and it completely depends on the interest of the collector. I have been collecting Indian notes since five years now and I have completely got hooked on to it. Initially all I was interested in collecting was fancy numbered Indian Notes. 

I started with currency notes in India whose serial number ended with the digits 786. The number has a lot of significance for Muslims and it is considered to be a lucky as well. I accidently found a 10 rupee Indian note first with the serial number ending with this lucky number. I did not pay much attention to it. I was at the supermarket and was about to give it away to the owner, when he held it and looked at it for some time. He first thanked me. I wondered why he did that. After questioning him, I realised the importance of these notes. After several requests, I exchanged the note with another one and I kept the lucky 10 rupee Indian note with me. I don’t really know how lucky it was for me, but I surely fell for the idea of collecting more currency notes in India featuring 786 in the serial number. I started checking online for these notes and then found out that collecting Indian notes is a popular hobby that many pursue. I joined a few communities and interacted with several other collectors like me. This way, I started growing my collection of Indian notes slowly.

After I collected quite a few 786 notes, I moved on to sold numbers and super solid numbers. Unlike coins and stamps, serial numbers and fancy numbers play a vital role when you are a collector of banknotes. I slowly learned that there are many who are ready to pay thousands of rupees just for owning special currency notes in India featuring interesting serial numbers!

My Curious Nature Led me to Collecting Indian Notes

As the years pass by, our standards of living always keeps on increasing. And with that, there is a need to release higher denomination currency. Many a times we hear of stories from our parents and grandparents of how they used to buy a lot of things with just 1 rupee or some paisas for that matter. The 100 rupees Indian Notes that we use today might not fetch you anything in maybe 20 years. Its value could be as much a 1 rupee of today’s times. That’s what made me curious about Indian notes and I started collecting them a few years back. I first started collecting Indian notes of 1 rupee denomination. I started looking out for the different kinds of designs that are featured on them. I started looking up on the internet for currency notes in India of the denomination one. Then, I realized that collecting Indian notes is a hobby that many pursue.

That’s what got me going, I started networking with other collectors like me. There are some who have been collecting Indian notes since 30 years, 40 years and so. It feels great to stay in touch with such experts because they keep sharing their insights and opinions about various aspects related to the hobby. I think it is very important to connect with the fraternity at a deeper level for this wonderful hobby to survive. After I ended my quest for collecting 1 rupee Indian notes, I moved on to other denominations. I recently came to know that high value denomination like 1000 rupees was also issued back in the times of East India Company. Then it struck me that 1000 rupees in those days might be worth crores of rupees of today’s times. I asked myself why are Indian notes of the denomination 1 crore released now then? I did a bit of research and found out that such high denominated banknotes are issued by governments only to tackle the problem of inflation. 

Now when I look back I realized that questioning oneself from time to time is what makes you curious and keeps you engaged!