12) Experimental issue of two rupee coins in 1982, with the theme of National Integration:
To commemorate the occasion of holding of the IX Asian Games in New Delhi, in 1982, a bi-metallic (cupro-nickel) coin was brought out, together with 25 paise coins of a similar composition, and Aluminium –Magnesium 10 paise coins ( Sports related commemorative coins are being covered under a separate heading on this blog).
While these were limited edition issues, an experimental two-rupee cupro-nickel coin (having 75% copper and 25% nickel as it’s composition) was simultaneously issued for circulation, based on the theme of “National Integration”. This was an equally bold and beautiful coin as the Asian Games issue.
The salient features of this coin were that it had a circular rim, the map of India on the obverse, together with, the Indian Flag, the words “Rashtriya Ekta” in Hindi and “National Integration” in English with the year 1982 mentioned to the right of the base of the Indian map. On the border around these inscriptions, was an octagonal design, which highlighted the map of India and the inscriptions, as if the octagonal border design was a photo frame. This coin was envisaged for issue, perhaps, due to rising costs of metals, and inflationary pressures and ,also, cost considerations of issuing two rupee currency notes. I have this two-rupee coin in my collection ,images of which are given below:
Reverse of the First coin in this denomination issued in 1982, with the map of India and the National Flag.This coin was issued by the Mumbai mint (Diamond mint mark below the year of issue.
The Obverse of the coin had a similar octagonal border with the Lion Capital, the ancient symbol of King Asoka of ancient India; adopted as the present day symbol of Sovereignty of the Indian Government, together with the words “Satyameva Jayate” (Truth always prevails). Notice, that, this was the first time, that these words were incorporated in an Indian coin and are present in every coin to the present day, ever since. It also had the words “Bharat” in Hindi and “India” in English, as also, the numeral “2” flanked by the words “Rupiye” in Hindi and “Rupees” in English.
Re- issue of cupro-nickel two rupee coins with the theme of National Integration (1990-1991):
Inflationary costs and rising cost of metals was rendering the cost of minting the cupro-nickel one rupee rather cost-ineffective, therefore, the two-rupee coin (with 75% copper and 25% nickel composition), having the same shape ,size and design as the 1982 issue ,was reintroduced in 1990, again with the theme of “National Integration”. Also, there was an urgent need to replace the two-rupee note with a two-rupee coin, again, due to costs and longer durability considerations.
I have a specimen of the 1990 coin which I am giving here. I am still searching for a 1991 coin, to complete this segment.
Reverse of a 1990 coin , with the theme of “National Integration” having the same specifications as a 1982 issue, minted at the Mumbai mint (mint mark- diamond below the year of issue).
Obverse of the same coin issued in 1990.
Issue of much smaller (Cupro-nickel) coin with a 11-sided (Hendecagonal ) rim (1992-2003):
Inflationary and metal costs had already forced the one-rupee coins to be minted in Ferrite Stainless Steel from 1992 onwards. However, it was still considered cost-effective to mint the two rupee coins with the Cupro-nickel composition of the earlier coin, albeit with a much smaller size, which was continued till 2003, thereafter, this design was replaced by Ferrite Stainless Steel (FSS) coins from 2005 onwards, with newer themes.
Procurement from foreign mints: During the period 1997 to 2000, domestic two rupee coin production was supplemented by procurement of coins minted in four foreign mints viz., Seoul mint, South Korea (1997 and 1998), Pretoria mint (1998), Dominican Republic (1999) and Moscow mint, Russia (2000).
I have all the coins with the theme of “National Integration” issued in this series in my collection, except for the years 1994 and 1996, images of which I am giving below:
Reverse of a 1992 two rupee coin minted by Kolkata mint (No mint mark is a Kolkata mint hallmark).
Reverse of a 1993 two rupee coin minted by Mumbai mint (Diamond mint mark below the year).
Reverse of a two-rupee coin issued in 1994 by the Noida Mint (Dot mint mark below the Year of issue). This coin has been given to me by my sister-in-law on 07.12.2012. I have been looking for this coin for quite some time now.
Reverse of a 1995 issue from Mumbai mint.
Reverse of a coin minted by Seoul Mint, South Korea in 1997. How do I know this? Notice the five-pointed star below the last numeral of the year 1997 i.e. under the numeral "7". This is the Seoul mint mark.
Reverse of a coin minted in 1998. Can you identify the mint and it's mark? If you still cannot, go back to the above coin details.
Reverse of a two rupee coin minted by the Pretoria mint , South Africa, for India. Notice the huge "M" mint mark below the year 1998. You just can't miss it. It looks like a side view of the Mars "land-Rover".
Reverse of a Mumbai mint issue in 1998.
Reverse of a two rupee coin minted by Dominican Republic. Notice the inverted "U" mint mark below the year 1999. To some of you it might even look like a saddle.
Reverse of a coin minted in Moscow mint, Russia in 2000. Notice the elephant shaped mint mark below the year 2000. It is actually the mint letters "MMD" written in calligraphy. Incidentally, 2000 was the last year when India procured coins from foreign mints, having achieved self sufficiency in domestic coin production , in the same year.
Reverse of a 2003 issue from Mumbai mint.
Circular FSS coin issues (Ferrite Stainless Steel) with a “Unity in Diversity” theme 2005-2007:
Ferrite stainless steel coins were issued wef. 2005 , circular in shape and without the map of India and the theme of National Integration, which was replaced by a “Unity in Diversity “theme.
This coin immediately led to two major controversies:
One, the visually challenged users found it much difficult to differentiate this coin from the one rupee issues which were shaped in the same pattern, except, that they were slightly smaller. Earlier they could distinguish the denominations, by checking out the Hendecagonal shape of the two-rupee coins.
The second controversy, was ,that although, the theme was “Unity in Diversity”, the symbol chosen to depict it, showed an equal-armed cross , with the beams divided into two lines each, and with dots in-between adjacent arms.
The Reserve Bank of India’s explanation that the symbol depicted “four heads sharing a common body “, hence, symbolizing “Unity in Diversity” got washed down in a wave of protests of enormous proportions, in that, the RBI’s past practice of depicting symbolisms from ancient Indian history and usage had clearly been given a go-by with the new symbol, with there being no history of a cross-shaped design in the entire history of India.
The Reserve Bank of India’s explanation that the symbol depicted “four heads sharing a common body “, hence, symbolizing “Unity in Diversity” got washed down in a wave of protests of enormous proportions, in that, the RBI’s past practice of depicting symbolisms from ancient Indian history and usage had clearly been given a go-by with the new symbol, with there being no history of a cross-shaped design in the entire history of India.
Also, critics found out that the cross shaped design was strikingly, similar to the “denier” issued by Louis the Pious of France. (A denier is a French coin, the twelfth of a sou, originally made of silver, but of copper from the 16th century onwards, the equivalent of a pennyweight of the early 1700s). This analogy seemed to suggest that instead of Unity in Diversity and symbolizing communal harmony, the cross symbol did exactly the opposite.
The design on the one rupee coin in this category (which I have mentioned in the preceding article as the “dots and cross” coin) too fell a prey to this controversy.
The design on the one rupee coin in this category (which I have mentioned in the preceding article as the “dots and cross” coin) too fell a prey to this controversy.
The Reserve Bank of India stood its ground stoically, but, political considerations, made it beat a hasty retreat and in 2007 itself, it came out with a new design to mitigate both these controversies. Thus 2007 was a unique year, in which two 2-rupee coins with different designs were issued.
Nevertheless, in a few years the 2005-2007 “Denier design- two rupee coins” will become collectors items. A few of them are still circulating in the economy and budding numismatists should add them to their collections.
Obverse of a two rupee coin from 2005, showing the words “Bharat” in Hindi and “India” in English, above the two parallel lines, the Lion capital, with the words “Satyameva Jayate” (Truth always prevails) and the numeral “2” in between the two parallel lines, and the year and the mint mark of the issuing mint below the lower parallel line. This coin has been issued by the Mumbai mint (diamond mint mark below the year).
Reverse of the above coin issued in 2005, showing the “Unity in Diversity” symbol, designed by Reserve Bank of India with the double-lined cross and the dots in between the lines. I call it the “dots and crosses “ coin, as it reminds me of the “knots and crosses” board game.
Obverse of the same designs issued in 2006 and 2007, before being changed with another theme.
Circular FSS two rupee coin issues with a lady’s hand depicting a victory sign or the number two in a Bharat Natyam dance pose (2007-2010):
These coins were issued with the purpose of changing the controversial Unity in Diversity coins and also to enable the visually challenged users to “read” the value of these coins by checking out the “V” sign on the obverse . These coin designs are currently in use, the last ones in my collection , having been issued in 2010.
Obverse of the new design issued in 2007. Notice, that , the numeral "2" has gone to the reverse of the coin.
Reverse of the new-design two rupee coin with the numeral "2" and the words, "Rupiye"in Hindi and "Rupees " in English accompanied by a lady's hand in a "mudra"(dance pose) showing the "V" sign.
Obverse of a 2011 issue from the Hyderabad Mint (Five pointed star mint mark, below the Year of issue). This is one of the last few coins issued under this design as a new design two-rupee coin bearing the Rupee-symbol was also introduced in the same year.
Posted on 12.08.2011:
Today, we , my wife and I , had gone to check out a huge shopping Mall which has recently opened in the vicinity of our home, and I managed to collect a few specimens of the new Ferritic stainless steel (FSS) two rupee coins with the rupee symbol on them, issued in 2011.
Obverse of the above coin, showing the Lion Capital, with the words"Satyameva Jayate" (Truth Always Prevails) below the Lion Capital. On either side are the words, "Bharat" in Hindi and "India" in English.
Reverse of the coin shows the rupee symbol on top with the numeral "2" below it, indicating the denomination of the coin, with the year of issue 2011 at the bottom, below which is the Diamond mint mark, indicating that this coin is issued by Mumbai mint. On either side is a lotus in full bloom with Lotus buds at the extreme top end of the stems (Lotus is the National flower of India).
Posted on 19.11.11:
I have collected this coin during my recent trip to Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh- India) . You will notice two faint lines going across the face of this coin (like the Tropic of cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn) as per the design on the obverse of this coin. Also, there is a faint imprint of the Lion Capital Emblem of the Government of India in between the figure 2 and the Dance pose depicting the figure "2" with the two raised fingers. The indent is more prominent on the actual face of the coin than it has come in the scanned image. Some people think that this is an error coin brought out by the mints. However, this is not so. Such "imprints" get made on some coins when large bags carrying them in bulk are thrown out of vehicles onto the ground by the sheer weight of the coin sacks. The Obverse of this coin too has an imprint of the design on this side of the coin.
Posted on 2nd June 2012:
Reverse of the coin shows the rupee symbol on top with
the numeral "2" below it, indicating the denomination of the coin, with
the year of issue "2012" at the bottom, below which is the Diamond mint
mark, indicating that this coin is issued by Mumbai mint.
Posted on 26.05.13:
Reverse of the above coin shows the rupee symbol on top with
the numeral "2" below it, indicating the denomination of the coin, with
the year of issue "2013" at the bottom, below which is the "Diamond" mint
mark of the Mumbai mint.
Posted on 27.05.14:
I received the under-mentioned coin at a shopping mall today. This is my first coin issued in 2014 collected exactly a year after the above coin issued in 2013:
The Reverse of the above coin shows the rupee symbol on top with the numeral "2" below it, indicating the denomination of the coin, with the year of issue "2014" at the bottom, below which is the "Diamond" mint mark of the Mumbai mint.
Posted on 21.02.2015:
Acquired my first 2015 two rupee coin from a bakery today. This year these coins seem to have been issued early. Perhaps, this is because Reserve Bank of India has plans to re-issue one Rupee banknotes, signed by the Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi shortly, then in that case the two rupee coin may become the smallest denomination coin in circulation, hence there may be a pressing need to put adequate number of two rupee coins in circulation. Let us see how things pan out.
Posted on 27.05.14:
I received the under-mentioned coin at a shopping mall today. This is my first coin issued in 2014 collected exactly a year after the above coin issued in 2013:
The Reverse of the above coin shows the rupee symbol on top with the numeral "2" below it, indicating the denomination of the coin, with the year of issue "2014" at the bottom, below which is the "Diamond" mint mark of the Mumbai mint.
Posted on 21.02.2015:
Acquired my first 2015 two rupee coin from a bakery today. This year these coins seem to have been issued early. Perhaps, this is because Reserve Bank of India has plans to re-issue one Rupee banknotes, signed by the Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi shortly, then in that case the two rupee coin may become the smallest denomination coin in circulation, hence there may be a pressing need to put adequate number of two rupee coins in circulation. Let us see how things pan out.
The Reverse of the above coin shows the rupee symbol on top with
the numeral "2" below it, indicating the denomination of the coin, with
the year of issue "2015" at the bottom, below which is the "Diamond" mint
mark of the Mumbai mint.
Posted on 11.04.2016:
I got my first 2016 coin from a shoe shop today from general circulation.
The Reverse of this coin shows the rupee symbol on top with
the numeral "2" below it, indicating the denomination of the coin, with
the year of issue "2016" at the bottom. This coin also exhibits the "Diamond" mint
mark of the Mumbai mint below the year of issue.
Posted on 02.07.2017:
This year, I have got my first two Rupees rather late from a vegetable vendor's shop. Nevertheless, here is its image:
The Reverse of this coin shows the rupee symbol on top with the numeral "2" below it, indicating the denomination of the coin, with the year of issue "2017" at the bottom. This coin also exhibits the "Diamond" mint mark of the Mumbai mint below the year of issue, though it is somewhat smudged.
Posted on 30.07.2019:
I have collected this Rs.2/- coin issued in 2019 from a vegetable vendor, but have still not been able to find a Rs.2/- coin issued in 2018 despite a whole lot of people on the look-out for it for my collection. Strangely, I have collected 2019 issues of the Rs.10/- Rs.5/- and Re 1/- coins with considerable ease. The hunt for the 2018 Rs. 2/- coin continues -
The Reverse of the 2019 issue of the Rs.2/- coin has also been issued by the Mumbai Mint. Notice the "Diamond" mint mark below the year of issue.
Posted on 01.01.2020:
I finally managed to collect four Rs.2/- coins from a provision store, all issued in 2018:
The Reverse of a 2018 issue of the Rs.2/- coin issued by the Mumbai Mint, bears the "Diamond" mint mark of the Mint.
Posted on 02.07.2017:
This year, I have got my first two Rupees rather late from a vegetable vendor's shop. Nevertheless, here is its image:
The Reverse of this coin shows the rupee symbol on top with the numeral "2" below it, indicating the denomination of the coin, with the year of issue "2017" at the bottom. This coin also exhibits the "Diamond" mint mark of the Mumbai mint below the year of issue, though it is somewhat smudged.
Posted on 30.07.2019:
I have collected this Rs.2/- coin issued in 2019 from a vegetable vendor, but have still not been able to find a Rs.2/- coin issued in 2018 despite a whole lot of people on the look-out for it for my collection. Strangely, I have collected 2019 issues of the Rs.10/- Rs.5/- and Re 1/- coins with considerable ease. The hunt for the 2018 Rs. 2/- coin continues -
Posted on 01.01.2020:
I finally managed to collect four Rs.2/- coins from a provision store, all issued in 2018:
Posted on 26.10.2021:
Yesterday, I managed to collect a Two Rupees Coin from the new Series of Coins introduced in 2019. The minting/circulation of these coins got much delayed due to the Chinese Wuhan Virus pandemic (also known as Covid-19). As a result, only a few coins have reached circulation.
These Coins ere supposedly designed to assist the visually impaired persons to identify them easily. However, I do not see any Braille markings on them. Also the size of the coin has been reduced to that of the one rupee coins, presently in circulation.
To top this, the quality of minting leaves much to be desired. Even the Lion Capitol Emblem of the Government of India on the Obverse of these coins looks worn-out/jaded. I had to really strain my eyes to see the two rupees inscription in Hindi on the Reverse.
The Obverse and Reverse of the newly introduced Two Rupee Coin designs released with a 2019 mint year on them. Below the year of issue at centre left on the Reverse is seen the Diamond Mint Mark of the Mumbai Mint.
Posted on 01.11.2021:
Yesterday I collected a Rs.2 Coin from a local vegetable vendor. This coin definitely has a sharper strike than the previous issues of 2019:
The Obverse and Reverse of the Rs. 2/- Coin issued by the Mumbai Mint in 2020.
Some interesting links on Indian coins on this Blog:
Links to other posts on Indian Currency/Banknote denominations on this blog:
10) Did-you-know-series-1: Assists for identification of Currency Notes by visually challenged users
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