Coins I Love...!

In India there are four mints:
1. Mumbai (Bombay) Mint
2. Kolkatta (Calcutta) Mint
3. Noida Mint
4. Hyderabad Mint

The circulating coins bear the marks below year:

1. Diamond shape below year - Mumbai Mint
2. No marks below year - Kolkatta Mint
3. A dot below the year - Noida Mint
4. A star below the year - Hyderabad Mint

The Proof coins/uncirculating coins bear differ in the marks shown, but these above are the marks from Mints in India.

There is a general misconception among general public about the dates of the Commemorative coin "Homi Jehangir Bhabha" issued in occasion of his Birth Centenary.

To view more about this coin, click here.

Homi J Bhabha was born on 1909, and the year 2009 is his Birth Centenary year. But the coin carries years 2008-2009.

Coin collecting numismatists thought they have found out a rare error coin. There was lot of discussions online and lot of people became more and more greedy. They began to sell this coin for whooping sum of rupees. Newspapers like DNA carried articles on this subject.

But unlike carrying hoax rumors DNA chose to investigate on this issue. It is highly applauding effort to bring out the truth in it rather than print some hoax news.

Here is an excerpt from RBI website about the design of the coin:

Design:   Obverse :  The face of coin shall bear the Lion Capitol of Ashoka Pillar with the legend  "sathyameva jayathe" in Hindi inscribed below, flanked on the left upper periphery with the word "Barath" in Hindi and on the right upper periphery flanked with the word "INDIA" in English.  It shall also bear the denominational value "10" in International Numerals below the Lion Capitol flanked on the left lower periphery with the word  "Rupye" in Hindi and right lower periphery with the word  "RUPEES"  in English. Reverse :  The face of coin shall bear the image of "HOMI BHABHA" with inscription "Homi Bhabha Janma Shatabdi Varsh" in Hindi, on the left periphery and in English "HOMI BHABHA BIRTH CENTENARY YEAR" on the right periphery and the Years "2008-2009" below portrait of Homi Bhabha at the bottom. The new Rupee Ten Coin is a legal tender as provided in the Indian Coinage Act, 1906.

It is very clear even from this notification that it is not an error coin. Now there are people who tell this as a mistake rather than error.

To those, India was celebrating 100th Birth Centenary as Birth Centenary Celebrations and was kick started on October 20, 2008.

1909, October 30 is the birth date of Homi Bhabha. The celebrations started on his 99th Birth Year and continued for the next year. This is the reason for the inscription 2008-2009. It is not a mistake as assumed by people.

The source for this information can be seen from the Nuclear India Magazine VOL. 42/NO. 3-4/Sep.-Oct. 2008. [Government of India - Department of Atomic Energy].

If anyone tells the year in this coin is error/issue tell them with proof that they are wrong. This coin is worth its face value and there is no need to pay anything more.

If you are a coin collector, a newbie like me you might certainly be fooled by people who sell Fake Coins. Fake coins are those coins made by persons with wrong intention of fooling people interested in buying coins. Mainly they are targeted for Foreign customers, but now-a-days that separation has ceased to exist.

I came to know about fake coins through the first coin I bought. Unfortunately it was a fake which I realized some time later. It was an EAST INDIA COMPANY coin HALF ANNA with one side having picture of Radha-Krishna. The year was marked as 1616. Click here for more information on the coin. There are coins marked with years 1818, 1616, 1717 with images of Lord Hanuman, Lord Shiva, Lord Balaji, Lord Panchmukhi Hanuman, Goddess Durga, Goddess Lakshmi etc which are also circulating among websites and dealers. Beware of such fake coins.

I bought this particular coin from Mysore when I went for sight-seeing. In Bangalore also there has been reports of fake coins being sold in the Brigade Road premises. But its not a verified information.

I was searching for some coins in eBay and came across this coin of Indira Gandhi wearing a Rudraksha Chain.  By seeing the coin itself it is crystal clear that its 100% fake.