NEW COMMEMORATIVE COINS BOOKING STARTED BY HYDERABAD MINT

Hyderabad Mint has also started minting of high denomination coins meant for coin collectors. Below given are the commemorative coins which are available for booking on Hyderabad MintWebsite. You can click here to visit booking page. To download order form click here

• 100 Years of Civil Aviation of India- Set of Two coins (Rs.100-QA& Rs.5-Nickel-Brass)
• C. Subramaniam Birth Centenary - Set of Two coins (Rs.100-QA& Rs.5-Nickel-Brass)
• 100 Years of Civil Aviation of India- Rs.5 (Nickel Brass)
• 150 years of Comptroller & Auditor General of India (Rs.5)
• 100 Years of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - Rs.5 (Nickel Brass)
• 100 Years of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - (Rs.100-QA& Rs.5-Nickel-Brass)
• Platinum Jubilee of Reserve Bank of India 1935-2010 (Rs.10) (Bi-metallic)
• Platinum Jubilee of Reserve Bank of India - Rs.5 (Nickel Brass)
• Platinum Jubilee of Reserve Bank of India 1935-2010- Rs.2 (Nickel Brass)
• Platinum Jubilee of Reserve Bank of India 1935-2010 (Rs.1) (FSS)
• Platinum Jubilee of Reserve Bank of India 1935-2010 Set of two coins (Rs.75-QA & Rs.10-Bi-metallic)

5 RUPEES AND 150 RUPEES COMMEMORATIVE COINS WERE RELEASED ON THE EVE OF 150TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee releasing the Commemorative Coins, at the Commemoration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, in New Delhi on January 12, 2013. The Union Finance Minister, Shri P. Chidambaram and the Chairperson, National Advisory Council, Smt. Sonia Gandhi are also seen.

HOW TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN FIRST AND SECOND ISSUE OF SECOND INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE CROP CONGRESS 5 RUPEES

As we all know that Second International Crop Science Congress Five Rupees has been issued for both public circulation purpose and for Set of 2 coins in the velvet boxes. The coins issued for public circulation were far less as compared to the coins that were issued for velvet box sets. Then practically speaking it is more worth to collect the one that was issued for public circulation rather than collecting one from the set. Then how to differentiate between these two issues? Till today I just used to differentiate them based on the pattern of the luster which they exhibit. The "Public Circulation Issue" will be having luster whereas the "Set Issue" will be having glossy polished surface. OK,  this can be used when both of them are new in condition but what if both of them or either of them is in used condition, how to differentiate them then?

Click on the Image for enlarged view

It is very easy task and needs simple but interesting observation. Use the above given image as a reference to differentiate between them. Always observe for the Devanagari word "Phasal (फसल)". In case of first issue (Public Circulation Issue) it will be written as (फसल) whereas in case of second issue (Set Issue), it will be either written as (फसल) or (फंस ल) i.e. in case of second issue it will either have broken legend between स & ल or continuous legend, but set issue will be always having dot above फं ('Phn' instead of Pha). So if you’re intended to collect circulation issue then always try to get the one with the word “फसल” rather than the coin with “फंस ल”

TILAKJI 5 RUPEES ERROR COIN MINTAGE

We all know that  it was planned to issue the 5 rupee  commemorative coin  on August 1,2007 which marks freedom fighter Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak's death anniversary but unfortunately, a mistake in the embossed words upset that schedule and the mistake was the suffix 'Ji' in Devanagari Legend after the name Tilak, which is used as suffix of respect. Due to some unknown reason it was decided to remove the suffix "JI" and to scrap away around 20 lakh tilaji legend bearing coins by the Reserve Bank of India. The Figure '20,00,000' is an estimate which i extracted from a news clipping. To view the original version of news click here

IX ASIAN GAMES 2 RUPEES DIE VARIETIES (SMALL& LARGE LION- SMALL & LARGE EMBLEM)

To commemorate the successful conduct of 9^th Asian Games at New Delhi, Govt. of India Released Commemorative 2 Rupee Copper-Nickel coins in the year 1982 for public circulation.  These commemorative 2 Rupees coins were released from Mumbai and Kolkata Mint. However in case of coins released from Mumbai Mint we can find interesting obverse and reverse die varieties. These varieties show very minute but easily identifiable variations as detailed in below given images.

OBVERSE DIE VARIETIES

Here we can easily see that in case of Type-I obverse, space between the legend script (INDIA RUPEES & भारत रुपए) and the border is more whereas in case of type-II obverse this space is smaller. Since more space was consumed between legend and the border in Type-I die, there was lesser space available to accommodate the lion capital, so type -I obverse will have smaller Lion Capital whereas type-II will have relatively larger Lion Capital. Additionally, serif of the Devanagari alphabet 'भा' is thicker and shorter in type-I whereas it will be thin and elongated in type-II obverse. There are additional minute differences in font styles of denomination digit '2' please refer the image given below for the details.

REVERSE DIE VARIETIES

Similar to the obverse side, reverse side also exhibit differences in the space between legend and the border. Type-I reverse have more space between legend and the border. Its emblem will be smaller due to lesser space available to accommodate it.  Whereas type-II reverse will have lesser space between border and the legend hence its emblem was kept larger to adjust more available space.

1 RUPEE LOK NAYAK JAYA PRAKASH NARAYAN MUMBAI MINT DIE VARIETY (WRONGLY DECIPHERED AS KOLKATA MINT STRUCK COIN)

In the year 2002 Ferric Stainless Steel (FSS) One Rupee coins were released to commemorate the Lok Nayak Jaya Prakash narayan's Birth centenary. These coins were minted in Mumbai Mint as well as Hyderabad Mint, but not in Kolkata Mint. Still we can find some of these coins without mint mark, which are wrongly deciphered as coins struck in Kolkata mint, but in reality these coins without mint mark are struck in Mumbai Mint. Why I'm deciphering here these as Mumbai mint products is because, I got a Mumbai Mint sealed pack of these commemorative coins and from that same pack i got two pieces of these coins which were devoid of mint mark. This information needs to be confirmed yet, either through an RTI document or through any other appropriate document released by concerned authority.

SAINT ALPHONSA 5 RUPEES DIE VARIETY (ROSE VARIETIES)

This Nickel-Brass 5 Rupees commemorative coin was released in the year 2009 to commemorate saint Alphonsa’s birth centenary. However in case of this commemorative coin released from Mumbai Mint we can find an interesting die variation on the reverse side. The detailed differences are marked in the below given image.

Click on the image for better view 

From the above given image we can clearly make out six difference in the type-I and type-II reverse sides.

• In case of Type-I the leaf A behind the rose is oval shaped with relatively pointed end whereas in case of type two this leaf is blunt and have flattened end.
• Secondly, coming to right lateral leaf B, we can clearly observe that type one have oval shaped leaf whereas type-II has elongated narrow leaf.
• Third observable difference is in the leaf C just besides the flower stalk. Type-I reverse have fully visible oval shaped leaf whereas type-II have partially visible triangular leaf.
• Forth observable difference is that, the type-I reverse have a thick stalk ending whereas type-II have thin stalk ending.
• The more clearly observable difference is in the leaf E. Type-I have small blunted leaf whereas type-II has large leaf with pointed end.
• Lastly, leaf F has very minute but observable differences in the leaf curving.
• In addition to these six variation we can even clearly make out differences in the finishing of the coin. Type-I have normal finishing whereas type-II have a far better finishing with exceptionally good strike.

BAL GANGADHAR TILAK JI BROKEN LEGEND FIVE RUPEES

Bal Gangadhar Tilak 5 Rupee coin was minted both in steel and in Copper-Nickle Alloy. Steel coin was minted bearing the legend लोकमान्य  बाल गंगाधर तिलाक  की १५० वि जयंती (LOK MANYA BAL GANGADHAR TILAK KI 150 VI JAYANTI) whereas the Copper-Nickle coin was minted initially bearing the legend "लोकमान्य  बाल गंगाधर तिलाकजी  की १५० वि जयंती" but later on due to some unknown reasons the suffix 'जी' was removed and minted with the legend "लोकमान्य  बाल गंगाधर तिलाक  की १५० वि जयंती". However in addition to these two types we can see even a third type of legend with the broken script "लो क मा न्य  बा ल गंगाधर ति लाक जी की १५० वि जयंती". Thus we can find three types of legends on Copper Nickle coins; 'BAL GANGADHAR TILAK', 'BAL GANGADHAR TILAKJI' and third one is Devanagari broken legend 'BAL GANGADHAR TILAK JI'

To view enlarged image please click here