The Indian Coinage Act , 1957 :
The Indian Coinage Act of 1906 was amended in September 1955 for the introduction of a metric system for coinage , a system which had been mooted for several decades but never introduced before.
The result was that , while the denominations and nomenclature of Indian coinage issued wef 1st April 1957 remained the same, by and large, the rupee which had hitherto been the equivalent of 192 pies under the 16 anna denominations to a rupee, now became equivalent to 100 paise to a rupee.
The “new coins” introduced under the metric system were termed “naya paise” (singular) or “naye paise” (plural) in Hindi (the official language of the Indian nation) . This was done ,with a view to avoiding confusion as regards the value of the two overlapping types/series of coinage in circulation (the 'Anna series" having the old value of 192 pies to a rupee as well as the new coinage " naya paise series " having a value of 100 paise to a rupee.)
The Naye Paise series 1957 to 1964 :
The words “Naya paisa ” or “Naye paise” were mentioned prominently on the reverse of the coins issued in this series/period so that users would not get cheated by unscrupulous persons while using coins of the two overlapping /different series which were in use as legal tender during this period.
The anna system which had now been replaced by the decimal coinage in 1957, had been so well-known from the times of British India that it is not uncommon to come across people still referring to the 25, 50 and 75 paise as four, eight and twelve annas instead of paise.
While the words “naye paise” were replaced by “paise” only, the word "naye"(new) having been dropped in issues after 1st June 1964, on the assumption that the users were now familiar with the decimal series, the Regal issues (issued prior to 15th August 1947 with the King's portrait) ceased to be legal tender wef 1968 and these coins were, thereafter, reduced to becoming collector’s items only.
The Naye Paise series was issued in the following denominations:
Nickel : one rupee, fifty naye paise and twenty-five naye paise.
Cupro-nickel : ten naye paise, five naye paise and two naye paise.
Bronze: one naya paisa (1957-1961)
Nickel Bronze : one naya paisa(1962 - 1964)
Nickel Bronze : one naya paisa(1962 - 1964)
Although I have used coins from all these denominations at some time, I only have , specimens of a ten paise coin, two paise and one paisa coins which I have given below:
Obverse side of a 10 naye paise cupro-nickel coin from 1961 with the words "Bharat" and "India" on it ( the first time the name of the Indian nation was introduced in Hindi wef 1957).
Reverse side of the 10 naye paise cupro-nickel coin from 1961 prominently displaying the "naye paise " words in Hindi (the official language of India). Also the words "Rupiye ka daswan bhag" (one tenth of a rupee) appears prominently in Hindi, making the value of the coin very clear under the new paise series.
Obverse side of a ten paise cupro-nickel coin from 1966 (two years after the close of the Naye paise series).
Reverse side of the ten paise cupro-nickel coin from 1966. Notice that the word "naye paise" have been replaced by the words "dus paise" (ten paise) ,but the value continues to be denoted as "Rupiye ka daswan bhag" (one tenth of a rupee).
Obverse side of a two naye paise cupro-nickel coin from 1961 with the words "Bharat" and "India" on it ( the first time the name of the Indian nation was introduced in Hindi wef 1957).
Reverse side of a cupro-nickel coin from 1961.
The words "naye paise" are displayed prominently in Hindi under the numeral 2 and above the year 1961. Also the words " Rupiye ka pachaswan bhag" (one fiftieth of a rupee) is mentioned in Hindi on the coin.
The Obverse side of a one naya paisa Bronze coin with the words "Bharat" and "India" appearing on it as in the coins shown above.
Reverse side of a one paise Bronze coin from 1961.
The words "Naya Paisa " appear below the numeral 1. Notice how in such a small surface on the coin, the mint designers have managed to put in the words " Rupiye ka sauwan bhag" ( one hundredth of a rupee)in Hindi which is clearly readable.
Reverse side of a one naya paisa Nickel-Bronze coin from 1962. (The composition of the earlier coin given above this image was Bronze)
(Looks like an ancient coin from a few centuries ago, does'nt it? Sorry this is the only specimen, which I have from that year, so you will have to bear with me ! ).
Reverse side of a one naya paisa Nickel- Bronze coin from 1963.
Reverse side of a one naya paisa Nickel- Bronze coin from 1964.
( Apologies again. My only one naya paisa specimen from this year).
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
Factual error: Hindi is only one of the official languages of India -not the official language.
ReplyDeletesecondly, language for official purposes does not mean for using on the coins of india.
Your attention is invited to clauses 1 to 10 of the Official Languages Act 1963 (as amended in 1967) – Act 19 of 1963, for clarifications in the matter. Also, the Indian Constitution in 1950 declared Hindi in the Devanagri script as the official language of India with the use of English as a stop gap arrangement. However, due to difficulty in understanding of the Hindi language in non-Hindi speaking states, the use of English was continued in addition to Hindi, as the “subsidiary official language”. (This is not to be confused with the “22 officially recognized languages” of the VIII Schedule).
ReplyDeleteAlso, the states which are not comfortable with Hindi are free to choose their own “official languages” for being used for public administration and communications within the State, nevertheless, Hindi is the official language of the Indian Union and English continues to be the “subsidiary official language” of India, in addition to Hindi.
As I understand it, since 2003, a Government Committee is looking into the feasibility of treating all languages in the VIII Schedule as the "Official languages of the Indian Union", however, I have not come across the Committee's recommendations anywhere. If you have any knowledge in this regard, please let me know.
Regarding your second comment, I agree that language for official purposes does not mean using it on the coins of India. Nevertheless, as Hindi 9official language of the Indian Union)and English (subsidiary official language of India) were the two languages which were widely recognised in India (as mentioned above), so as not to cause confusion in the minds of the users, these two languages are being used on all official coinage at present issued by Reserve Bank of India. I don't think you would have come across any Indian coins issued in recent years in any other languages.
ReplyDelete"English in addition to hindi..." says the Official Languages Act. Thus,'subsidiary official language' is an incorrect usage. 'Additional'may be more appropriate.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, we, Andhras and Bengalis were better off under foreign rule when Telugu and Bengali were used on coins. The present policy of giving more importance to Hindi than to Telugu will not help national integration in view of federal structure of India. this policy may bolster the ego and morale of hindiites
The term "Subsidiary official language" has been used in an official notification in 1960 , which , in any case stands for supplement/supplementary (or additional). We can only hope that the Government Committee looking into the revised definition of Official languages will give a wider berth to other languages. Every country needs a National language for communication and progress. The framing fathers of the Indian constitution and policy makers ever since have kept this aspect in mind ,while adopting Hindi as well as English as the means of communication, while respecting the rights of the States to adopt their own official languages for use in their state. As regards the use of Regional languages on coins during foreign rule , the use of regional languages was done away by the British also in their own coinage too under the Standard coinage Act 1835 and only English and Persian, till the 1940s was used by them. The coinage used in various smaller kingdoms continued in local circulation only. These coins were phased out when these kingdoms joined the Indian Union.
ReplyDelete