India: New series of circulation coins

[Pabitra]

New series is likely to be announced by this year end.
50 p and 1 Rupee may be omitted
20 Rupees may be announced
Themes shortlisted are

Digital India
Women Empowerment
Defence Sector Development
Swachch Bharat

[dheer]

Omitting rs1, may not happen. It is still a widely used denomination.

[Pabitra]

Primary reason for demise of a denomination is that it has stopped being an item of economic consequence.

1 Rupee no longer carries much significance and the demand for the coin has almost vanished.


For reference see these links



https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/agra/no-takers-for-re-1-coins-in-up-banks-warn-people-refusing-legal-tender/articleshow/60091189.cms

https://www.complaintboard.in/complaints-reviews/small-1-rupee-coin-l645977.html

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/beggars-demonetise-one-rupee-coin-in-up/article22397559.ece

[jnite]

Its good to hear about new designs, but staying in NCR I would say 1 Rupee coin is still very much needed and should not be discontinued.
Also, i would love to see the original grain design for 1 Rupee coin in co-commemorative issue in silver or gold (in same size and weight as original ) by mints like the 1 DM german gold version was there for collectors.

--JNite

[Pabitra]

Staying in NCR😃

One stopped getting even a glass of cold water for 1 Rupee. This summer, it was/is 2 Rupees.

Right from 1960s, the lowest denomination of India circulation coins has been equal to a glass of cold water in Delhi. Ask some one if you are not senior enough, it used to be just 1 paisa and then doubled in price( to 2 paise), like this season.

[jnite]

Yes, I am not senior enough to buy a glass of water at 1 paise but still It's my personal opinion that demonetisation or stopping circulation would be a problem as change is always needed in even or odd values and 1 Rupee is needed here.
Also, I am completely clueless why Government started printing 1 Rupee banknotes suddenly which costs more to print then it's circulating value.

Also, my favourite of all designs is the 1 Rupee grain design which from starting was same till the Rupee symbol and mudra coins which gave the INR a new identity but took away the identity of the Rupee coin.

Whatever the govt decides it's upto them, but as collector I would always want the 1 Rupee coin to never loose its value and design( which it did after introduction of Mudra and later Rupee symbol).

[Pabitra]

It is still a thought that 1/- coin be not issued. I do not know when the final decision will be taken and what it would be.
Stoppage of 50 paise coin is almost a foregone conclusion.
There are very few branches of RBI in Eastern part of India who indent it and only Kolkata mint minted it last in 2016.

1/- Grain design was last minted in 2004 and was succeeded by Unity in Diversity theme for period 2004 to 2006, before getting replaced by Mudra design. Just to make sure that you did not miss it.

There are some big customers who still pick up 1/- coins in bulk, like Delhi and other metros, which have token vending machines. Worldwide, this is not the practice. London Underground has card/ token vending machines which dispenses only 2 Pound coins. This all tokens are rounded to 2 Pound price.

[asm]

I do not think it will be possible to do away with the 1 rupee - Just think of all the rituals where it is "mandatory" to give gifts / offerings in amounts ending with a 1 at the end (a very auspicious figure).
On a more serious note, one need the 1 rupee with the two rupees to make up a total of 5, or any odd digit number, Another point to consider is that the government has reintroduced the 1 rupee notes some time back. Would it do away with the coin?

Amit 

[Figleaf]

Another point to consider is that the government has reintroduced the 1 rupee notes some time back. Would it do away with the coin?

If the 1 rupee amount is mostly used for ceremonial purposes, it would actually be good government policy to produce the denomination in paper only. The target clientele would actually appreciate being able to give a banknote, the production cost would be lower and the speed of wear would be irrelevant.

Peter

[Pabitra]

I do not think it will be possible to do away with the 1 rupee - Just think of all the rituals where it is "mandatory" to give gifts / offerings in amounts ending with a 1 at the end (a very auspicious figure).

Long before Rupee became a minor value, it was rounding to odd numbers in paise. When it was almost decided to abolish 1 paisa in 1964, a 3 paise coin was introduced in 1964. Do you think that could be done for Rupee too? Persons, arithmetically challenged, may not be able to generate odd figures like 11, 21, 31, 51 etc. but it can be done.

Some people will ask for a 9 Rupee coin so that they can buy Bata shoes priced at 1499/- or 2199/- etc. Do you think that should be issued too?😄

[Pabitra]

Another point to consider is that the government has reintroduced the 1 rupee notes some time back. Would it do away with the coin?

It has been asked by several persons as to why was 1/- note reintroduced? Even I had that question in mind and it remained unanswered.
It was introduced during the time of Rajiv Mehrishi, who was from Rajasthan.
So I asked top numismatist of Rajasthan.

Technically speaking, both coins and 1/- note are money and are issued by Government of India. They are the assets of the Government and the government enjoys seigniorage as profit. The 1/- note is, for all practical purposes, a coin made of paper. The high cost associated with notes is that if they are used regularly, they have a very short life which is inversely proportional to their denominational value.

Other notes are promissory notes of RBI and they indicate the liability of RBI. The RBI is under obligation to replace them at face value when they get soiled.

According to that numismatist, Rajasthan has a tradition of guests in a wedding offering garland of notes to the newly married bridegroom. It amounts to giving cash to young couple to set up their new home ( although I believe that it is more in some northern states like Punjab but I may be wrong). The cost of this notes garland is normally face value of notes plus making charges. However, there is a well built ecosystem of this garlands being reused by a open buyback of such garland and reselling by businesses who supply other wedding paraphernalia. In other words, these notes have really long life since the notes are kept out of day to day transactions.

Hence a man from Rajasthan decided to reintroduce  1/- notes. They are now cornered by collectors and garland makers.

Kindly note that I can not vouch for correctness of this theory ( or hypothesis).

[jnite]

All in all we moved away from the original topic started by Pavitra ji about new series and showed concerns about the 1 Rupee coin.
Getting back to the topic I will be most interested in "Defence Sector Development" topic for the new series although other series would be nice to see.

It would be great to see how the designers come up with unique designs for selected topic(s) and how mints would produce them with quality or error finish (mostly work of Kolkata mint).

[Pabitra]

I do not think it will be possible to do away with the 1 rupee - Just think of all the rituals where it is "mandatory" to give gifts / offerings in amounts ending with a 1 at the end (a very auspicious figure).
On a more serious note, one need the 1 rupee with the two rupees to make up a total of 5, or any odd digit number, Another point to consider is that the government has reintroduced the 1 rupee notes some time back. Would it do away with the coin?

Amit

You are from Ahmedabad where even 5 Rupee notes are being refused

https://ahmedabadmirror.indiatimes.com/ahmedabad/cover-story/no-takers-for-rs-5-note-as-rumours-gain-currency/articleshow/64724921.cms

[Yogesh5101]

Its nice to hear about new series,,

The 1 rs. can not be taken straight away. Its much needed as change. Both 1 & 2 rs denomination shall be put to end if required, leaving behind multiples of 5 that will further increase the inflation.

The rs. 10 coin is pain in the ass of people as it is bulky & too heavy to carry 2-3 or more coins in mens wallet and general people don't simply accept it. I have seen people (Shopkeepers, factory owners mostly) changing the hoards of coins for rs. 940-960 for each 100 coins in Delhi. Don't know how 20 rs. going to be, for sure its not going be lighter & smaller than 10 rs. coin. God save us.

[Pabitra]

If one goes by objections to new 2011 series coins, the most common was that new 1/- was like old 50p and new 2/- was like old 1/-.
Going by that logic leaves very little for 10/- and 20/- in size, which must be greater than 5/- if that gets retained as it is. The other differentiating qualities are edge and shape.
It is precisely why 20/- shape is likely to be decagon.
They may have some special edge for 10/- apart from change of alloy if circular shape is retained.