2785) Did You Know Series (76): A Ten Rupee Note (10 Rupee) from the erstwhile Princely State of Hyderabad:

2785) Did You Know Series (76): A Ten Rupee Note (10 Rupee) from the erstwhile Princely State of Hyderabad: 

We went to the annual Numismatic and Philately Exhibition held in Sonal Hall, Pune in mid-December 2022 where my friend Jayant Biswas collects several unique items for his collection. By the time we returned, he had a bagful of Numismatic and Philatelic pieces. One item he could not get was a Hyderabadi Rupee Banknote (also called the "Osmania Sicca").

But his persistence finally paid off and he managed to collect this Banknote from another source.

The Hyderabadi Rupee:

The Hyderabadi Rupee was the currency of the Hyderabad State from 1918 to 1959. 

From 1950, it circulated parallelly with the Indian rupee till it was demonetised in 1959. 

Like the Indian rupee, it was sub-divided into 16 annas, each of 12 pai. 

Coins were issued in copper (later bronze) for denominations of 1 and 2 pai and 1⁄2 anna, in cupro-nickel (later bronze) for 1 anna and in silver for 2, 4 and 8 annas and 1 rupee.

Hyderabad was the only Indian princely state that was permitted to continue issuing its own notes after it was subjected to join the Dominion of India in 1948 and the Republic of India in 1950.

The Government of Hyderabad made several efforts to organise private bankers to set up a banking company which could issue paper money.

 

The British India Crown Raj (BICR), however, resisted the attempts of Indian princely states to issue their own paper currency. 

Nevertheless, the acute shortage of silver during the First World War (1914-1918) and the contributions of Hyderabad to the British war effort led the BICR to accept the Hyderabad Nizam's proposal to issue the State's own currency for circulation within its territories.

Accordingly, in 1918, paper currency in denominations of Rs.10/- and Rs.100/- was issued under the Hyderabad Currency Act.

The currency was designated the "Osmania Sicca" (OS). 

One and Five Rupee Banknotes were subsequently issued in 1919 and One Thousand Rupee Banknotes were issued in 1926. 

After the setting up of the India Currency Notes Press at Nashik in 1928, Hyderabadi Banknotes were printed there.

In 1942, the Government of Hyderabad established the Hyderabad State Bank, with the responsibility, inter alia, of managing the OS. 

Hyderabad continued to mint its own coins until 1948, when India occupied the state after the Nizam refused to cede it to the new Dominion.

In 1950, the Indian Rupee was introduced alongside the local currency, with the exchange rate of 7 Hyderabadi Rupees to 6 Indian Rupees. 

In 1951, the Hyderabadi Rupee ceased to be issued and the Indian rupee became the main circulating currency, although the Hyderabadi rupee was demonetised only in 1959.

The last of the Hyderabadi Banknotes were issued in 1953. The ruling Nizam of Hyderabad was Mir Osman Ali Khan. 

The Banknote issue date:

Although the BICR acceptance of the circulation of Hyderabadi Currency was officially conveyed in 1918, Banknotes issued as early as 1916 have been found to be in circulation. These Banknotes are extremely rare now.

The Banknotes are dated in the "Fasli Era", by adding 589 to the FE date will convert it to the AD date. (Faslī (“harvest”) is derived from the Arabic term for “division,” which in India was applied to the groupings of the seasons. The era dates from the Muslim year ah 963 (1555–56 ce). 

This was also the "Hindu Samvat" Era Year 1612. 

They were printed in Urdu, with the value of currency written in Urdu, Marathi, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and English on them.

In 1932, a consgnment of unissued, but water-stained Hyderabadi notes in 5, 10, and 100 Rupee denominations were recovered from the SS Egypt, which sank off the island of Ushant near Brest, northern France in 1922. Many of these were given a special stamping and sold as souvenirs. 

These notes were in the process of being shipped from England where they had been printed. 

These notes are of historic interest to notaphilists. Some of the notes are printed slightly later than the dates that they bear.

The double letter serial number prefix determines what series the note is located in. Some of the 1939-53 issues have a single serial number prefix series code letter.

Demonetised Hyderabadi Currency returned to Treasury vaults:

Hali Osmania paper currency in Hyderabad State that was returned to the treasury from 01.07.1953 to 31.10.1953 is O.S. Rs. 8.05 crores including one-rupee Banknotes. and O. S. Rs. 18.42 crores (Rupee Coins and small coins) by 28.11.1953.

The Rs.10 Hyderabadi Banknote:

A Ten Rupee Osmania Sicca Banknote having the Serial No. "IU 065171". The inscriptions in Telugu and English read - "O.S. RS. TEN" ("Osmania Sicca Rs.10").

It bears the emblem of Hyderabad Princely State at top left and a watermark window at top right.

In the languages panel placed at left and right five Indian languages are inscribed.

The inscriptions in small print to deter counterfeiters reads - "THE GOVERNMENT OF HYDERABAD. HIS EXALTED HIGHNESS, THE NIZAM OF HYDERABAD" among other lettering.

On the Back of the Rs. Ten Osmania Sicca Banknote is written the denomination in Hindi (at left), English (at the top), Urdu (at right) and Telugu (at the bottom).

At the Back the inscriptions in small lettering are repeated.

The above Banknote is from the collection of my friend Jayant Biswas. Banknote scanned and post researched by Rajeev Prasad)