By Savitha Hira
Images: courtesy
‘The Paper & The Promise’ publication by Reserve Bank of India
Mahatma Gandhi series of notes in a changed colour scheme with additional security features. |
Ever
wondered why your rupee note looks different every few years? The change in
colour, motifs, and size of the paper? Here’s a peak into the introduction and
growth of paper money in India and how it has evolved to meet the challenges of
the day!
While
currency is one of the most mass produced commodities in the world, it is also
so taken-for-granted that apart from a cursory nod of appreciation for a new
coin or note, and maybe a disparate comment or two on the changes made therein,
no one really bothers to know or even see what the design change has effected.
Paper
money, in the modern sense, traces its origins to the 18th century,
when notes were issued as ‘promises to pay’ in lieu of physical silver coins
possessing intrinsic/token value.
The
historical references to the introduction and growth of the bank note from
being merely a promissory note in private circulation to a common token of
monetary exchange are not only intriguing but also trace the evolution in its
design. Mainly attributable to the socio-political conditions that had a direct
relation to the economy of the nation; bank note design has evolved from being
unifaced (one-sided printing) to being printed on both sides; from long
references with payees’ name on each note to a generic monetary token; doing
away with status paraphernalia and incorporating enhanced security measures to
deter forgeries.
An
early unifaced note of the Bank of Bengal
|
Notes
carrying the portrait of Queen Victoria - the first
series of notes issued by
Govt. of India (1861 – 1867)
|
Green
Underprint to Red Underprint designs replaced the Victoria
Portrait notes and
carried enhanced security features.
|
The
design of the bank note traces important milestones in the country’s
socio-cultural, political and economic structure and has grown to interblend security considerations with aesthetics together with the
intended messages the issuer may wish to convey. Thus, any design of bank note
attempts to blend the watermark, guilloche design, multi-tonal printing,
intaglio printing, and the security thread etc. With advancement of
reprographic techniques, new features likeclear text security threads, windowed
security threads, fluorescent planchettes, holograms, anti-copier devices,
magnetic readable inks, optically variable inks, etc. have been devised and
variably incorporated into the design of contemporary bank notes.
Motif
of an agricultural scene on a Rupee One Thousand Note of King George V series
|
The size of notes was reduced in 1967 along with design changes |
Notes issued in the mid 1970’s carried symbols of progress e.g., the
Rupees Five
notes issued in 1975 celebrated the Green Revolution.
|
The
motifs appearing on the Indian currency note reflect the changing
socio-cultural ethos and world-view of the times: buccaneering mercantilism,
colonial consolidation, and domineering imperialism to symbols of national
independence followed by allegories of progress and finally in the latest
series, reminiscing Gandhian values.
A Variation of the Hirakud Dam design depicted on
notes issued in 1967 when the
size of notes was changed.
|
Notes with intaglio printing were first introduced in 1975.
These notes marked
a distinct change in motif and note design.
|
The Rupees Ten & Twenty notes issued in 1975 marked a change
in note design
with an emphasis on Indian art forms.
|
This is the first time to see some historical India's currencies. Were these been changed from nowadays?
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