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Saturday 2 July 2011

24) Celebrating 75 years of the Reserve Bank of India in 2010


Celebrating Platinum Jubilee of Reserve Bank of India in 2010.
Early history of Reserve Bank of India:

The idea of setting up the Reserve Bank of India was mooted when the Hilton Young Commission submitted its report in 1926.

Nothing much happened for about five years, when, in 1931, the Indian Central Banking Enquiry Committee reignited the idea of setting up the Reserve Bank of India as the Central Bank of India.

Based on all these recommendations, the articles of the Reserve Bank of India Act 1934 were framed.
One of the main features was that the RBI was envisaged as a share-holder’s Bank. Reserve Bank of India accordingly commenced operations on 1st July 1935. 

It is interesting to know that, the RBI had a London office, which was set up in October 1935 and which continued to function till September 1963 i.e. till 16 years after India gained Independence.

A noteworthy point is that the three Presidency Banks of Bengal, Bombay and Madras, were authorized to issue paper currency in 1861 under the Paper Currency Act, under a Royal Charter i.e. around the time when the East India Company’s control over currency and coinage matters was being transferred to the British Government, and the “Regal issues” (coins) were being envisaged. This note issuing authority was, later, transferred to the Imperial Bank of India, when it took over the combined functions of the Presidency Banks in 1921 and, subsequently, taken over by the Reserve Bank of India in 1935.  RBI thus, became the sole authority in the matter of currency issue in undivided India.

Also, another point of interest is that the RBI, in 1937, was also the Banker to the Government of Burma and issued currency notes for that country.

Till the time of Independence of India and formation of the State Bank of Pakistan on 1st July 1948, the RBI also acted as the Currency issuing authority for Pakistan. The Lahore mint also functioned under the authority of Reserve Bank of India and minted coins with the mint mark “L” (I have placed the only coin which I have – a quaternary silver half rupee issued in 1944 at the following link – http://exclusivecoins.blogspot.in/2011/04/george-vii-last-of-british-india.html (titled: "George VI : The last of the British India Emperors”).

The Currency Notes issued during the period 15th August 1947 to 30th June 1948 (Date on which RBI ceased to be Central Bankers for Pakistan) are very much in demand by collectors and can fetch anywhere between Rs.10,000/- to over Rs.1,00,000/- depending on the denomination of the Notes and other features. 

Also, of interest, is the fact that some notes were issued under the combined authority of the “Reserve Bank of India” and “Government of Pakistan”.

From 1st January 1949, the Reserve Bank of India was Nationalised.

The RBI functions as the main monetary authority of India and acts as a Banker to the National and State Governments. 

Governors:

 It is interesting to note that of the 22 Governors (including the present one Dr.D.Subbarao) who have so far headed the Reserve Bank of India, the first four Governors (two British and two Indians) were knighted by the British Sovereigns. Their details are as under:
-     1) Sir Osborne A. Smith  (First Governor )                   from  01/04/1935 to 30/06/1937
-       2) Sir James Braid Taylor(second Governor )             from 01/07/1937 to 17/02/1943
-     3) Sir Chintaman D. Deshmukh (third     Governor)      from 11/08/1943 to  30/06/1949 (First Indian Governor appointed during British India period and his tenure continued till after India became independent)
-     4) Sir Benegal Rama Rau (fourth          Governor)    from 01/07/1949 to 14/01/1957. 
  
(He was the first Governor to be appointed in Independent India – Sir C.D. Deshmukh being the “carry forward” Governor from British India times – and also the longest serving RBI Governor till date. Also, it may interest to Collectors/RBI historians that Sir Osborne A. Smith was not of British origin, but was an Australian Banker). Sir Smith was the only Governor of Reserve Bank of India whose signatures do not appear on any Banknote, as he did not sign any.

    I have two notes from his tenure, one is a ten rupee note and the other is a five rupee note, which I have put up under my post at the following link: http://exclusivecoins.blogspot.in/2011/06/did-you-know-series-2-what-is-design-or.html  (titled:“Did you know series (2)What is the design or focus of the picture on the back of the currency notes in circulation in India?)”.

The logo

The logo of the Reserve Bank of India has a very interesting history. On this image, there is a very prominent picture on a Gold Mohur with a lion facing left, standing under a palm tree with five leaves. Coins with images like these were, commonly, issued under the Standard coinage 1835 issues, during the times of King William IV and Queen Victoria in the nineteenth century. 

The above is an image of a coin of one mohur issued in India during William IV's reign. Notice a Lion standing on a pedestal below a palm tree with several leaves. Also, notice that the languages used are only English and Persian.


The above is an image of the RBI logo as it looks - present day.The Lion has been replaced by an image of the Bengal Tiger.
The above two images (a carry forward legacy from the early British India times) form the basis of the RBI present day logo, the only difference being that the Lion has been replaced by the Indian Tiger.  Notice, that the other major financial institution the State Bank of India has changed its logo several times to suit the need/reflections of the times, (Please refer my preceding post on SBI) , but, this is not the case with the RBI which still prefers to continue with a colonial heritage logo .


 The above is a laminated description of how the seal/emblem of RBI was created.
The following interesting description is documented in the RBI archives/history. The text is as follows:

“The selection of the Bank’s common seal to be used as the emblem of the Bank on currency Notes, cheques and publications was an issue that had to be taken up at an early stage of the Bank’s formation.


The Government’s general ideas on the seal were as follows:

1)   The seal should emphasize the Governmental status of the Bank, but not too closely.

2)   It should have something Indian in design.

3)   It should be simple, artistic and heraldically correct.

4)   The design should be such that it could be used without substantial alteration for letterheads etc.


For this purpose, various seals, medals and coins were examined. The east India Company’s double mohur with the motif of the lion and the palm tree was found most suitable; however, it was decided to replace the lion by the tiger, the latter being regarded as more characteristic of India.


To meet the immediate requirements in connection with the stamping of the Bank’s share certificates, the work was entrusted to a Madras firm, The Board, at its meeting on February 23, 1935, approved the design of the seal but desired improvement in the animal’s appearance. Unfortunately, it was not possible to make any major changes at that stage. Deputy Governor Sir James Taylor took keen interest in getting fresh sketches prepared by the Government of India Mint and the security Printing Press, Nasik. As a basis for good design, he arranged for a photograph to be taken of the statue of the tiger on the entrance gate at Belvedere, the residence of the Governor of Bengal (now the National library, Kolkata). The early sketches were a bit disappointing, leading Sir James writing in September 1938, to remark:


“ ……’s tree is all right but his tiger looks too like some species of dog, and I am afraid that a design of a dog and a tree would arouse derision among the irreverent. …..’s tiger is distinctly good, but the tree has spoiled it. The stem is too long and the branches too spidery, but I should have thought that by putting a firmament under the feet of his tiger and making his tree stronger and lower we could get quite a good result from his design.


The Security Printing Press, Nasik, prepared another set of proofs. However, it was eventually decided not to make any change in the existing seal of the Bank and the new sketches came to be used as an emblem for the Bank’s currency notes, letterheads, cheques and publications.”

Another interesting point to note is, that, the RBI conducted a nation-wide competition recently and has settled for a new rupee symbol which includes the Devanagri script (an ancient Indian language in its design, which has been adopted as a symbol of National pride, but the RBI logo still stays a colonial symbol .

In a lighter vein, now that the tiger conservation project is in full flow, it can be argued, that the Reserve Bank logo proclaims the RBI's commitment to saving the endangered tiger in India.

Platinum Jubilee celebrations of RBI:
(established 1935 , completed  75 years in 2010):
To mark the Platinum Jubilee celebrations (75 years) of the setting up of the Reserve Bank of India, a commemorative set of five coins was released. The commemoration set included coins of the denomination of Rs.75/- (silver alloy), Rs.10/- (bimetallic), Rs.5/- (nickel brass), Rs.2/- and Re 1/- (Ferritic stainless steel –FSS coins).  I only got to know about the commemorative set being booked by Mumbai mint on 1st January 2011 (i.e. a day after the coin bookings closed on the Mumbai mint’s official website). How I came to know of these coins having been issued is also an interesting story:
My wife and I were coming back from our routine morning walk, when a little girl who appeared to be the daughter of a daily labourer accosted us and said she was hungry and wanted us to buy her some biscuits. Taken in by her request, we made a bee-line to one of the provision stores which open early in the morning. We purchased some biscuits and buns for her, which she personally pointed out at the shop. As change, I got a cupronickel “golden” coloured coin which I pocketed. 

As I examine every coin which I come across, since I have become an active coin collector, I checked this one out, and it turned out to be my first five rupee coin celebrating the Platinum Jubilee of the Reserve Bank of India. I was particularly excited about the resemblance of this coin to the Gold mohurs from the times of William IV and Queen Victoria, and wherever  I went afterwards, be it a restaurant, grocery shop, stationery shop etc. I contrived to make payments in such a way, that I would get back a five rupee coin as change. 

I have managed to collect a few of this limited edition coins now. Imagine my disappointment, when I learnt, that the sale of the commemorative coins set had just ended a day before, on the Mumbai mint web-site.


A Proof Coin set from the Reserve Bank of India archives, commemorating the Platinum Jubilee of the Reserve Bank of India 1935-2010. Also included in this set apart from 1, 2, 5, and 10 rupee denominations is a 75 Rupee coin marking the occasion of completion of 75 years by RBI.
                      Reverse of the above Proof set of five coins
All of the above-mentioned denominations issued are in circulation, except for the 75/- rupee silver alloy coins. 
 The following is an image of a five rupee coin issued by RBI to celebrate its Platinum Jubilee in 2010. Notice that the languages now used are Hindi , the official language of India and English.



The obverse of a five rupee cupronickel coin showing the Lion Capital, below which is the numeral “5” . On the side of the Lion Capital are the words “Bharat” and “Rupees” in Hindi and on the other side are the words “India” and “Rupees” in English.Below the Lion Capital are the words "Satyameva Jayate " (Truth always prevails).


 The reverse of this coin bear the emblem of the Reserve Bank of India, showing the tiger, with the palm tree in the background. The words “Bhartiya Reserve Bank “ in Hindi, appear on the left side and the words “Reserve Bank of India” in English , appear on the right hand side of the design .Below the Tiger and palm tree logo of RBI are the words "Platinum Jubilee" together with the period 1935-2010 which indicates the period that the RBI has existed to complete its 
Platinum Jubilee – and is still going strong!!  This coin has been made by Mumbai mint. Notice the "diamond" mint mark below the year of issue.  

Posted on 16.07.2011: 
  My friend  Krishna Tonpe ,  who has been largely instrumental in collecting quite a few of the  post Independence India coins ,which I have put up on my blog  and will be putting up in new posts, has now collected for me a specimen of a one rupee coin celebrating the Platinum Jubilee of the RBI. 


The obverse of this one rupee  coin showing the Lion Capital, below which is the numeral “1”. On the side of the Lion Capital are the words “Bharat” and “Rupiya” in Hindi and on the other side are the words “India” and “Rupee” in English. 



The reverse of this coin bears the emblem of the Reserve Bank of India, showing the tiger, with the palm tree in the background. The words “Bhartiya Reserve Bank “ in Hindi, appear on the left side and the words “Reserve Bank of India” in English , appear on the right hand side of the design . The words “Platinum Jubilee” appear both in Hindi and English below the RBI symbol. Further below are the years “1935-2010” which indicates the period that the RBI has existed to complete its Platinum Jubilee – and is still going strong!! This coin has been minted at Hyderabad mint , as indicated by the “Five pointed Star” mint mark below the Platinum Jubilee years.
I am now waiting for someone to give me specimens of the two rupee coin, apart from the ten rupee coin promised by my friend!! (:-) 

Posted on 10.09.11:

P A specimen of a two rupee coin has been given to me today by Krishna Tonpe which is placed below:




The obverse of this two rupee  coin showing the Lion Capital, below which is the numeral “2”. On the side of the Lion Capital are the words “Bharat” and “Rupiye” in Hindi and on the other side are the words “India” and “Rupees” in English. 
The reverse of this coin bears the emblem of the Reserve Bank of India, showing the tiger, with the palm tree in the background. The words “Bhartiya Reserve Bank “ in Hindi, appear on the left side and the words “Reserve Bank of India” in English , appear on the right hand side of the design . The words “Platinum Jubilee” appear both in Hindi and English below the RBI symbol. Further below are the years “1935-2010” which indicates the  RBI's  Platinum Jubilee.

Posted on 20.11.11:

Obverse of one of the three coins which I collected  during my recent trip to Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh, India). One coin each was given to me by Paromita (my sister-in-law), Deep (an acquaintance) and Dharmendra (the little boy who works at the provision shop next to the place where I was staying in Lucknow). The coin shows the Lion Capital, below which is the numeral “10” indicating the denomination of the coin. On the side of the Lion Capital are the words “Bharat” and “Rupiye” in Hindi and on the other side are the words “India” and “Rupees” in English. 

Reverse of the above coin bears the emblem of the Reserve Bank of India, showing the tiger, with the palm tree in the background. The words “Bhartiya Reserve Bank “ in Hindi, appear on the left side and the words “Reserve Bank of India” in English , appear on the right hand side of the design . The words “Platinum Jubilee” appear both in Hindi and English below the RBI symbol. Further below are the years “1935-2010” which indicates the  RBI's  Platinum Jubilee.




1 comment:

  1. But the booking was extended Till 31st Jan 2011.as the mint Explaned Due to heavy demand.

    ReplyDelete