1191) Republic of Mauritius: Evolution of Mauritius Banknotes - Rupees sub-divided into 100 Cents: A historical perspective:
The Republic of Mauritius is an island nation in the Indian Ocean.
The main island of Mauritius is located approx. 2,000 kilometres (or 1,200 miles) off the Southeast coast of the African Continent. The country also includes the islands of Rodrigues (a volcanic island about 560 kilometres or 350 miles East of Mauritius), Chagos Archipelago (comprising atolls and islands) about 2,200 kilometres North-east of the main island.
The ownership of this Archipelago is disputed between Mauritius and the United Kingdom), Agalega (twin islands, some 1,000 kilometres or 620 miles North of Mauritius Main island), Tromelin (located about 430 kilometres Northeast of Mauritius, co-managed by France and Mauritius till 2017, when the French Government withdrew unilaterally from the Treaty ratifies in 2010.
This is an area of dispute between the two nations over its ownership) and St. Brandon (also known as "Cargados Carajos Shoals" is about 402 kilometres or 250 miles Northeast of the main island. The archipelago consists of 16 islands and islets).
The ownership of this Archipelago is disputed between Mauritius and the United Kingdom), Agalega (twin islands, some 1,000 kilometres or 620 miles North of Mauritius Main island), Tromelin (located about 430 kilometres Northeast of Mauritius, co-managed by France and Mauritius till 2017, when the French Government withdrew unilaterally from the Treaty ratifies in 2010.
This is an area of dispute between the two nations over its ownership) and St. Brandon (also known as "Cargados Carajos Shoals" is about 402 kilometres or 250 miles Northeast of the main island. The archipelago consists of 16 islands and islets).
The capital and largest city is Port Louis.
Historical background of Mauritius - A brief:
Around 975 AD, Arab sailors called the main island of Mauritius "Dino Arobi" who were the first people to visit the uninhabited island.
In 1502, Mauritius figured on a map drawn by Italian cartographer - Alberto Cantino.
In 1507, Portuguese ships docked on the island and named it "Ilha do Cirne", as is evidenced by early Portuguese maps. Another sailor called the Archipelago "Mascarenes".
In 1598, a Dutch fleet landed at the Grand Port and named the island - Mauritius after Prince Maurice van Nassau, stadholder of the Dutch Republic. The first Dutch settlement lasted for about 40 years, till 1638. The Dutch introduced sugarcane, domestic animals and deer to the island, while exploiting the ebony trees.
In 1715, the island archipelago became a French colony and was renamed "Isle de France". Port Louis was established as a naval base and ship-building centre. The island witnessed a prosperous economy during this period.
In 1767, the Island was under the administration of the French East India Company.
From 1767 to 1810, the inhabitants set up a government which was virtually independent of France although it was administered by official appointed by France.
In 12/1810, the French surrendered the island to the British after a well-fought war between the two countries, during the Napoleonic Wars. Under the British rule, the name was reverted to Mauritius.
In 1835, slavery was abolished and plantation owners received compensation for the loss of their slaves who were imported from Madagascar during the French occupation.
Between 1835 and 1921, the plantation owners brought around 500,000 indentured labourers from India to work on the sugar-cane fields/estates, factories, in transport and in construction sites. "Aapravasi Ghat" (meaning "migrant/non-resident dock") in the bay at Port Louis, which is now a UNESCO Heritage Site was the first British colony to serve as a major reception centre for indentured persons.
Banknotes of Mauritius:
The Rupee is the currency of Mauritius sub-divided into 100 cents.
In 1876, the first Series of Banknotes was issued by the Government of Mauritius in the denominations of 5, 10 and 50 Rupees.
In 1919, one Rupee Banknotes were circulated.
In 1940, emergency issues of 25 and 50 Cents and one Rupee Banknotes were made.
In 1954, 25 and 1,000 Rupee Banknotes were issued.
In 09/1967, the Bank of Mauritius was set up as the Central Bank of Mauritius and has the supervisory responsibility of issuing Banknotes and Coins ever since.
The 1967 Series of Banknotes (First Series of Banknotes issued by the Bank of Mauritius:
The Bank of Mauritius issued its First Series of Banknotes in 1967 itself, which comprised of four denominations - 5, 10, 25 and 50 Rupees. These denominations were all undated and carried a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the Front.
On the Back, the 5 Rupee Banknote carried a monument marking the landing of the Dutch at the bay of Grand Port (1598) and a sailing boat.
On the Back, the 10 Rupee Banknote carried an image of the Government House and Port Louis,
the capital city of Mauritius and the economic, cultural and political centre and most populous city of Mauritius.
On the Back, the 25 Rupee Banknote depicted an image of a Bullock Cart.
On the Back of the 50 Rupee Banknote was shown an image of Port Louis Harbour.
The Second Series of Banknotes (1985 - 1988):
In 1985, the Second Series of Banknotes were issued by the Bank of Mauritius, which contained Banknotes in the denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 Rupees.
These Banknotes were printed by two companies - Bradbury Wilkinson and Thomas de La Rue. These Banknotes also got designed at different intervals, as such, they had very few identical and consistent design features. For example, they had varying Banknote numbering systems, different types of security threads, variations in the design ans size of the Mauritian Coat of Arms, different UV light latent printing, inconsistent variations in the size increments between the denominations and multiple different typesets et al.
This Series was last issued in 1998.
The Third Series of Banknotes (1998 - 1999):
The Third Series of Banknotes consisted of seven Banknote denominations - 25, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1,000 and 2,000 Rupees. This Series all had a standard format and were issued simultaneously in 11/1998, all printed by Thomas de La Rue, the Banknote & Security Printing major.
This Series was withdrawn from circulation in 06/1999 due to controversies arising on account of the ordering of the text - English, Sanskrit and Tamil). As most of the population of Mauritius is Tamilian, it was felt that Tamil should have been placed first in the sequence of languages.
The Fourth Series of Banknotes (1999 onwards):
The same denominations as in the earlier Series were issued under this Series - 25, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1,000 and 2,000 Rupees were issued.
On the Front of the 25 Rupees Banknote was seen a portrait of Moilin Jean Ah-Chuen (1911-1991), who was a Sino Mauritian politician. He became the First Chinese Cabinet Minister from 1967-1976 and First Chinese Member, of the Legislative Council in 1949.
On the Back of the 25 Rupees Banknote is seen a vignette of Rodrigues, which is a 108 sq. kilometres autonomous outer island of the Republic of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean about 560 kilometres East of Mauritius. It is part of the Mascerene Islands, which include Mauritius and Reunion Islands.
On the Front of the 50 Rupees Banknote is seen an image of Joseph Maurice Paturau (1916-1996).
On the Back of the 50 Rupees Banknote is seen an image of Le Caudan.
On the Front of the 100 Rupees Banknote is seen an image of Renganaden Seeneevassen.
On the Back of the 100 Rupees Banknote is seen an image of the Court-House.
On the Front of the 200 Rupees Banknote is seen an image of Abdool Razack Mohamed, who was an Indian born former key Mauritian Minister in the pre and post-Independence cabinet of Mauritius. He is recognised as one of the fathers of the modern country of Mauritius.
On the Back of the 200 Rupees Banknote is seen a representation of a Mauritian Market.
On the Front of the 500 Rupees Banknote is seen a portrait of Sookdeo Bissoondoyal, who was a Mauritian politician and one of the leading figures in the Independence Movement.
On the Back of the 500 Rupees Banknote is seen an image of the University of Mauritius.
On the Front of the 1,000 Rupees Banknote is seen a picture of Charles Gaetan Duval, who was a barrister, statesman and politician from Mauritius, who was a leader of the "Parti Mauricien Social Democrate" (PMSD) . A disciple of Jules Koenig, the first leader of the PMSD, he was in favour of integration of Mauritius into the United Kingdom.
On the Back of the 1,000 Rupees Banknote is seen an image of the State House.
On the Front of the 2,000 Rupees Banknote is seen an image of Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, who was a Mauritian politician, statesman and philanthropist. He was a leader in the Mauritian Independence Movement and the first Chief Minister and Prime Minister of Mauritius.
On the Back of the 2,000 Rupees Banknote is seen an image of a man with an ox-cart laden with sugarcane.
Issue of Polymer Banknotes:
On 22.08.2013, the Bank of Mauritius issued a communique intimating that in terms of Section 35, of the Bank of Mauritius Act 2004, the Bank was introducing polymer Banknotes in the denominations of 25, 50 and 500 Rupees.
The polymer Banknotes would be almost identical to the paper banknotes. They would contain several security features, inter alia, a transparent window showing the image of the dodo, numbers printed with magnetic ink, which become fluorescent under UV light and swing features printed in iridescent ink, which change colour when observed in transparence or when tilted.
The polymer Banknotes would circulate alongside the existing paper Banknotes and both will be treated as legal tender till further notice.
In 12/2018, the Bank of Mauritius notified the issue of a polymer 2,000 Rupee Banknote, which was designed to counterfeit widespread counterfeiting. This Polymer Banknote has the same design of the earlier 2,000 Rupee Paper Banknote, but came with upgraded security features.
The 2,000 Rupees Polymer Banknote includes a feature called illuminate that uses a combination of inks, including matte and iridescent inks to inject vivid colour into the polymer window, which also includes an image of a dodo bird.
The earlier hand-engraved image of Seewoosagur Ramgoolam was retained on the Front, together with the patterns, micro-printing and secure inks of the paper Banknote. On the Back the image of the man with an ox-cart carrying sugar-cane was retained.
(The Three Paper Banknotes depicted above are from the collection of Jayant Biswas. Post researched & written by Rajeev Prasad)
Banknotes of Mauritius:
The Rupee is the currency of Mauritius sub-divided into 100 cents.
In 1876, the first Series of Banknotes was issued by the Government of Mauritius in the denominations of 5, 10 and 50 Rupees.
In 1919, one Rupee Banknotes were circulated.
In 1940, emergency issues of 25 and 50 Cents and one Rupee Banknotes were made.
In 1954, 25 and 1,000 Rupee Banknotes were issued.
In 09/1967, the Bank of Mauritius was set up as the Central Bank of Mauritius and has the supervisory responsibility of issuing Banknotes and Coins ever since.
The 1967 Series of Banknotes (First Series of Banknotes issued by the Bank of Mauritius:
The Bank of Mauritius issued its First Series of Banknotes in 1967 itself, which comprised of four denominations - 5, 10, 25 and 50 Rupees. These denominations were all undated and carried a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the Front.
On the Back, the 5 Rupee Banknote carried a monument marking the landing of the Dutch at the bay of Grand Port (1598) and a sailing boat.
On the Back, the 10 Rupee Banknote carried an image of the Government House and Port Louis,
the capital city of Mauritius and the economic, cultural and political centre and most populous city of Mauritius.
On the Back, the 25 Rupee Banknote depicted an image of a Bullock Cart.
On the Back of the 50 Rupee Banknote was shown an image of Port Louis Harbour.
The Second Series of Banknotes (1985 - 1988):
In 1985, the Second Series of Banknotes were issued by the Bank of Mauritius, which contained Banknotes in the denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 Rupees.
These Banknotes were printed by two companies - Bradbury Wilkinson and Thomas de La Rue. These Banknotes also got designed at different intervals, as such, they had very few identical and consistent design features. For example, they had varying Banknote numbering systems, different types of security threads, variations in the design ans size of the Mauritian Coat of Arms, different UV light latent printing, inconsistent variations in the size increments between the denominations and multiple different typesets et al.
This Series was last issued in 1998.
The Third Series of Banknotes (1998 - 1999):
The Third Series of Banknotes consisted of seven Banknote denominations - 25, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1,000 and 2,000 Rupees. This Series all had a standard format and were issued simultaneously in 11/1998, all printed by Thomas de La Rue, the Banknote & Security Printing major.
This Series was withdrawn from circulation in 06/1999 due to controversies arising on account of the ordering of the text - English, Sanskrit and Tamil). As most of the population of Mauritius is Tamilian, it was felt that Tamil should have been placed first in the sequence of languages.
The Fourth Series of Banknotes (1999 onwards):
The same denominations as in the earlier Series were issued under this Series - 25, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1,000 and 2,000 Rupees were issued.
On the Front of the 100 Rupees Banknote is seen an image of Renganaden Seeneevassen.
On the Back of the 100 Rupees Banknote is seen an image of the Court-House.
On the Front of the 200 Rupees Banknote is seen an image of Abdool Razack Mohamed, who was an Indian born former key Mauritian Minister in the pre and post-Independence cabinet of Mauritius. He is recognised as one of the fathers of the modern country of Mauritius.
On the Back of the 200 Rupees Banknote is seen a representation of a Mauritian Market.
On the Front of the 1,000 Rupees Banknote is seen a picture of Charles Gaetan Duval, who was a barrister, statesman and politician from Mauritius, who was a leader of the "Parti Mauricien Social Democrate" (PMSD) . A disciple of Jules Koenig, the first leader of the PMSD, he was in favour of integration of Mauritius into the United Kingdom.
On the Back of the 1,000 Rupees Banknote is seen an image of the State House.
On the Front of the 2,000 Rupees Banknote is seen an image of Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, who was a Mauritian politician, statesman and philanthropist. He was a leader in the Mauritian Independence Movement and the first Chief Minister and Prime Minister of Mauritius.
On the Back of the 2,000 Rupees Banknote is seen an image of a man with an ox-cart laden with sugarcane.
Issue of Polymer Banknotes:
On 22.08.2013, the Bank of Mauritius issued a communique intimating that in terms of Section 35, of the Bank of Mauritius Act 2004, the Bank was introducing polymer Banknotes in the denominations of 25, 50 and 500 Rupees.
The polymer Banknotes would be almost identical to the paper banknotes. They would contain several security features, inter alia, a transparent window showing the image of the dodo, numbers printed with magnetic ink, which become fluorescent under UV light and swing features printed in iridescent ink, which change colour when observed in transparence or when tilted.
The polymer Banknotes would circulate alongside the existing paper Banknotes and both will be treated as legal tender till further notice.
In 12/2018, the Bank of Mauritius notified the issue of a polymer 2,000 Rupee Banknote, which was designed to counterfeit widespread counterfeiting. This Polymer Banknote has the same design of the earlier 2,000 Rupee Paper Banknote, but came with upgraded security features.
The 2,000 Rupees Polymer Banknote includes a feature called illuminate that uses a combination of inks, including matte and iridescent inks to inject vivid colour into the polymer window, which also includes an image of a dodo bird.
The earlier hand-engraved image of Seewoosagur Ramgoolam was retained on the Front, together with the patterns, micro-printing and secure inks of the paper Banknote. On the Back the image of the man with an ox-cart carrying sugar-cane was retained.
(The Three Paper Banknotes depicted above are from the collection of Jayant Biswas. Post researched & written by Rajeev Prasad)
Vinod Khurana has commented:
ReplyDelete"Very good information. Thanks for sharing. Will like to visit in near future."
Thank you so much, Vinodji.
DeleteSantosh Khanna has commented:
ReplyDeleteGood work."
Thank you so much, Khanna sahab.
DeleteRsanker Sharma has commented:
ReplyDelete"Great post."
Thank you so much, Sharma sahab.
DeleteHi, I would like to buy some brand new Mauritian coins. Would you kindly help me. Thank you Connie.
ReplyDeleteI would not be able to help you, Connie. These Banknotes are from the collection of a friend, who had visited Mauritius. Perhaps you could try buying the coins you are looking for on eBay or similar site.
DeleteThank you for your advice.
DeleteYou are welcome. All the best with your coin collection.
Delete