14) Foreign mints which have minted coins for India and identification of their mint marks.

Foreign mints which have minted coins for India and identification of their mint marks:

To supplement the domestic production of coins, India resorted to procuring Indian coins from foreign mints during  a few years in the 1980s upto 2000, whereafter, with the bringing of all the domestic mints and security printing presses, under the umbrella of SPMCIL (Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India, Ltd.), better co-ordination at the macro-level has led to self-sufficiency in this direction and no further coin procurement has taken place since the year 2000.

The ten foreign mints, from where coins were procured and the years when the supplies were made, are as follows:

     Name                      Denomination    Year

1) Royal Mint, London      One Rupee         1985

    (U.K.)

2) Heaton Press mint,      One Rupee          1985

   Birmingham, (U.K.)

3) Royal Canadian Mint,

   (Ottawa, Canada)          50  paise            1988

                                       25   paise   1985,1988

                                        10  paise            1988

4) Mexico City Mint           One Rupee          1997

   (Oeschger Masdach & Co.)

5) Seoul mint,South Korea  2 Rupees 1997, 1998

6)Teugu mint,South Korea  50 Paise            1985

7) Kremnca Mint                One Rupee    1998-2001

   (Slovakia Republic)

8) Pretoria Mint                 Two Rupees      1998

   (South Africa Mint Co.)

9) Tower mint (U.K.)        Two Rupees      1999

    (Dominican Republic)

10) Moscow mint             2  Rupees          2000

       (Russia)                   5  Rupees 1999, 2000

Specimens of the coins made by these mints , together with their mint marks,  and my nicknames for these mint marks , are quite easy to remember, once , newbie numismatists , get over the excitement of actually holding foreign minted Indian coins in their wallets/albums . 

I have collected quite a few samples of all these coins  over six months, except for the coin minted in Pretoria mint, for which I had a really long wait, before, I could lay my hands on a single specimen. 

Details of  the mints and their marks are elaborated below: 

1) The Royal Mint London, has a diamond mint mark, below the first numeral of the year of issue. In our specimen, the diamond is below the numeral “1”.

 Reverse of a 1985 one-rupee coin , minted by Royal mint, London, exhibiting the diamond mint mark , below the numeral "1".

The diamond mint mark in focus.

2) The Heaton Press mint, Birmingham (U.K.) , has a decorated/ornamental  “H” below the last numeral  of the year of issue 1985, i.e. below the  numeral “5” in 1985.

 Notice the Ornamental "H" below the "5" here.

 A clearer picture of the mint mark "H"

The Royal Canadian mint, Ottawa, (Canada) has the mint mark “C” below the year of issue.

The 25 paise coins were minted in different designs in 1985 and 1988 by this mint. Both these designs are given here, and exhibit the mint mark “C” below the year of issue .

 No elaboration required for the above coin and the "C" mint mark.

50 paise coins were minted at this mint in 1988. A much used specimen in my collection is exhibited here.

  The mint mark "C" is prominently visible in this coin below the year 1988.

Smaller 10 paise coins were also minted by the Royal Canadian mint , and a specimen  from my collection exhibiting the mint mark is given here.

 No elaboration required here again. 

However, it is worthwhile to note, that, these coins are virtually out of circulation, so, if one comes across any of these, they are worth keeping in one's collection, as are the coins from the two  U.K. mints mentioned above.

The Seoul mint (South Korea),  has a ”five-pointed star” under the date of the coin, directly below the last numeral of the year of issue i.e. under the numeral “7”  and “8” in our two specimens given here. 

These two 2-rupee coins were supplied by Seoul, South Korea, in 1997 and 1998.

The Taegu Mint (South Korea), , has a “five-sided star” , but this mint mark is placed below the first numeral of the year of issue. In our specimen, the mint mark star is given below the numeral “1”.  This 50 paise coin has one of the most beautiful floral designs of Independent India issues.  

Also,in a lighter vein, if you see in the floral pattern, there are dots, diamonds, and no marks, apart from the five pointed star , below the first numeral of the year 1985 ,which is the Taegu mint mark.  It is only my observation, that this coin exhibits all the mint marks of Indian mints as well – the five-pointed star  (Hyderabad mint), no mark (Kolkata mint), Diamond (Mumbai mint) and dot (Noida mint), but then it is only my opinion, not to be taken seriously by numismatists or researchers. 

Now for the coins to which I have given the nicknames, “smiley”, “elephant” ,” Mars Land Rover” “OM” (the Yoga chant), and “the saddle” which makes it easier to identify these mints.

First , we have the Mexico City Mint (I have given the story of a Mexican silver peso minted at Mexico city mint elsewhere on my blog:The travels of a silver Mexican Peso 1898; restruck in 1949.).
In 1535, when the Viceroyalty of New Spain was being cemented, the Mint of Mexico (la Casa de Moneda) became the first Spanish Mint to open in America. The mint received the following mandate from King Charles I and queen Juana: “Y PONGASE EN LA PARTE DONDE HOBIERE LA DEVISA DE LAS COLUNAS UNA M LATINA, PARA QUE SE CONOZCA QUE SE HIZA EN MEXICO” (meaning “Let a Latin ‘M’ be placed where the columns are divided to reveal that it was made in Mexico. This was represented by the symbol “OM” the letters placed vertically with “O” on top & “M” below.  

This mint today is managed by Oescheger Masdach & Co., therefore, it carries the “OM” mint mark below the year of issue. Although this is not the yogic chant which I have mentioned, for the sake of convenience, one can easily identify this mint mark , by my given nickname, as the “OM” chant mint mark coin.  The specimen given here is a one rupee 1997 issue from this mint, the only  year when this mint supplied these coins to India.

Notice the "OM" mint mark below the year 1997?

Second, we have the Kremca mint (Slovakian Republic),  which minted one rupee coins for India from 1998 to 2001. It has the mint mark “MK given in a Circle”, below the year of issue. The  first look at this mint mark looks like a “smiley” , which is my nickname for this mint mark. I have given specimens of all four years of issue i.e. 1998,1999,2000 and 2001 from my collection, below:

 Next, we have the  Pretoria Mint (South Africa Mint Co. Pvt. Ltd.), which has a “M” as the mint mark under the year of issue  i.e. 1998, when this mint supplied two rupee coins for India.  The mint mark is rather elaborate and looks like the  side-view of the “ Mars Land Rover”  . The image of the only specimen in my collection is given below.

The "M" below the 1998 looks like the sideview of the Mars "Land-Rover" does'nt it?

The next  mint is the Tower Mint, U.K. (Dominican Republic) which has the mint mark “U” under the year of issue.  This mint minted two rupee coins in 1998. The “U” mint mark looks like a saddle and my nickname for a quick identification of this mark is the “saddle”. A specimen from my collection is given, hereunder:

 What does this mint mark look like to you ?

The last mint which made coins for India was the Moscow mint (Russia). It has the mint mark “MMD” made below the year of issue.  This mint supplied two-rupee coins in 2000 and five rupee coins in 1999 and 2000. Its mint mark looks like an “elephant”, which is my nickname for mint mark on these  coins.

Two rupee coins supplied in 2000 with the "MMD" mint mark.

Five rupee coins with the Moscow mint mark supplied in 1999 and 2000.

Some of these coins are still available and are in circulation. If you are a keen numismatist and do not have these coins, then it is worth-while keeping these coins in your collection.

Some interesting links on Indian coins on this Blog:

1) Independent India issues: The evolution of the One Rupee Coin, the staedy building block of the Indian Monetary System

2) The Frozen Series and the early Indian Government issues

3) The Indian Coinage Act 1957 and the Decimal Series - 1957-64

4) The Aluminium Series 1964-1999

5) Independent India issues: The introduction and experiments of social themes on the two-rupee coins

6) Foreign mints which have minted coins for India and identification of their mint marks

7) Indian Mints & their mint marks

8) The introduction and stabilisation of the Five Rupee Coin in the Indian context

8) Independent India issues: 25 Paise Coins: the journey from usage over five decades to stepping into history

9) Fifty Paise Coin: The lowest denomination coin presently in circulation: Is it next on the chopping block?

10) Post Independence India Issues: Commemorating Sports in Indian Coinage

11) A Proof Coin set of Indian Coins from 1973, issued by the then Bombay Mint (present day Mumbai Mint), which includes Coins in the denominations of 1 Paise to 20 Rupees

 Links to other posts on Indian Currency/Banknote denominations on this blog:

1) Introduction of the new Rs.2000/- denomination in Indian Currency circulation wef 10.11.2016 

2) Classification and Valuation of Rs.1000/- denomination Banknotes 

 3) Classification and Valuation of Rs.500/- Banknotes

  4)Classification and Valuation of Rs.100/- Notes

5) Classification and Valuation of Rs.50/- Notes 

6) Classification and Valuation of Rs.20/- Notes 

7) Classification and Valuation of Rs.10/- Notes 

8) Classification and Valuation of Rs.5/- Notes 

9) Evolution and Valuation of one Rupee Banknotes in India

10) Did-you-know-series-1: Assists for identification of Currency Notes by visually challenged users 

11) Did-you-know-series-2-what-is-design-or focus of the picture at the back of circulating Currency Notes in India? 

12) Are you carrying a Fake Rs.500/- Banknote in your purse/wallet?: A comprehensive study 

13) Introduction of a Rs.200/- Banknote wef 25.08.2017: Reasons for introduction, Necessity & convenience to Users