New Commemorative Issue: 2008: India - Jagat Guru Sree Narayana Gurudev

[Figleaf]

RBI to circulate new five rupees coin

Chandigarh (PTI): The Reserve Bank of India will shortly circulate new five rupees coin to commemorate "Jagat Guru Sree Narayana Gurudev".

The edge of the five rupee coin will have security edge on periphery. At the centre of the edge, there will be shallow groove with a design inside the two sections separated by blank space, said a RBI release issued here on Wednesday.

The five rupee coin is a legal tender as provided in the Coinage Act, 1906. The existing five rupee coins in circulation will also continue to be legal tender, it said.

Source: The Hindu

[Bimat]

Got this one yesterday (in circulation).The coin was released for circulation in September/October (2008).
The coin was minted in two varieties-copper nickel and Ferric stainless steel.The Cupro-nickel variety was immediately withdrawn from circulation (Reason???)
One more interesting thing about this coin is that there is no date for this coin.

Aditya

[BC Numismatics]

Aditya,
  Can you please upload some photos of the coin that you got in change?

Aidan.

[Figleaf]

The coin was minted in two varieties-copper nickel and Ferric stainless steel.The Cupro-nickel variety was immediately withdrawn from circulation (Reason???).

My guess is that stainless stell is much cheaper, so withdrawing the copper-nickel coins, defacing them and selling them as scrap is probably a good deal. If so, you'll soon see no more copper-nickel coins in circulation at all.

Peter

[Bimat]

My guess is that stainless stell is much cheaper, so withdrawing the copper-nickel coins, defacing them and selling them as scrap is probably a good deal. If so, you'll soon see no more copper-nickel coins in circulation at all.

Peter

Might be possible.The same thing happened with some other commemorative coins (Mahatma Basaweshwara,Lokmanya Tilak etc),where the Cu-Ni variety was withdrawn from circulation.It is not impossible to find the Cupro-nickel variety in circulation,but this variety is more expensive than F.S.S. variety,if you want to buy in from a dealer (about 1$ (50 INR) for F.S.S. and 1.5$ (75INR) for Cu-Ni ).

Aditya

[Rangnath]

What a pity.  I much prefer copper-nickel to S.S! Oh, well. Better Stainless steel than no coins at all!
richie

[Bimat]

What a pity.  I much prefer copper-nickel to S.S! Oh, well. Better Stainless steel than no coins at all!
richie

Same here! I like the older Cu-Ni varieties of 5 Rupees commemoratives than the current F.S.S. variety..May be Government is saving some money by striking F.S.S. coins,as Peter said..

Aditya

[Rangnath]

I'm sure your right Aditya.  My country should eliminate the one dollar note and the one cent coin for the same reasons; to save money. 
Oh, I forgot, in the new economy the US doesn't have any money!
richie

[Bimat]

I'm sure your right Aditya.  My country should eliminate the one dollar note and the one cent coin for the same reasons; to save money. 
Oh, I forgot, in the new economy the US doesn't have any money!
richie

Logically speaking,you are right,but practically speaking-very very difficult.And since Lincoln cents are popular in U.S. collectors,If at all Government decides to stop producing cent coins,collectors will surely oppose the decision.
Indian Government also stopped producing 1 and 2 Rupee banknotes for same reason.I really don't know why India issued a new 50 Paise coins in 2008,since it is rarely used? Officials say that India will be issuing 10 rupees coins in next few years,and at the same time,they issue 50 Paise coins-what exactly they are planning to do?

Aditya

[Rangnath]

Correct me if I'm wrong Peter, but I think that coin collectors haven't much a say in the US about whether the penny stays or goes.  I think that its the mining and metal industries that promote retention.  As for the one dollar bill, it is the paper industry that maintains its existence. 
What about in India?  Who makes the decisions about whether the 50 paisa coin vanishes or remains?
richie

[asm]

Though this is basically a decision of the RBI, the government will ensure that the smaller coins which are mainly perceived to be used by the poor would not be withdrawn - this would be seen as a anti poor stance of the government - a political suiside.  People still lament the stoppage of printing of the Re 1 and Rs 2 & 5 currency notes.

I do not think that the RBI would take the decision to withdraw the coins but may be in the not too distant future, the minting of fresh coins may be stopped.

Amit

[Bimat]

Though this is basically a decision of the RBI, the government will ensure that the smaller coins which are mainly perceived to be used by the poor would not be withdrawn - this would be seen as a anti poor stance of the government - a political suiside.  People still lament the stoppage of printing of the Re 1 and Rs 2 & 5 currency notes.

I do not think that the RBI would take the decision to withdraw the coins but may be in the not too distant future, the minting of fresh coins may be stopped.

Amit

Amit is right-it is the R.B.I who takes the decision.Ultimately,Government is the body which regulates RBI.These 50 Paise coins are hardly used these days-almost never,unless the price is some odd number.Producing these coins is not at all worth.The metal value of coin is higher than its face value (I think-the 2008 issue is struck in Ferric Stainless Steel variety).I don't know what is the mintage of 2008 issue,but this coin is still not found in circulation,and if we go to dealer,they sell it for 5 Rupees-10 times higher than its face value-what a non-sense! 50 Paise is equivalent to about 1 US Cent-if striking a 50 Paise coin is not worth-same thing applies to cent.What do you think?

Aditya

[asm]

Aditya,

I picked up 10 pcs at Rs 2.50 and then the same dealer after a week offered me some more at Rs 5 each. However, earlier this week I was in Mumbai on my way to South America and I picked up 2 pcs which were in the office at face value. These had come from circulation. In Ahmedabad, I routinely come across the 50p coins since the last few months, if the shopkeeper is not keen on handing out toffees instead of change.

Amit