Legacy of the British Raj, one rupee note is now 100

The history of coins can be traced back to ancient India when various kings would mint coins to facilitate trade. However, uniform paper currency was introduced during the British rule, after the first war of Independence in 1862.

“The first rupee notes were issued in honour of Queen Victoria with various denominations after the first war of Independence. At that time, silver coins were widely in use until World War-I,” said Durai Vijay Pandian, Coordinator, Madurai Stamps and Coin Collectors Association.

Speaking to DTNext, Durai said that during World War-I, there was severe shortage of silver and that is when the government decided to abandon its use and start printing the one rupee notes. Thus, on November 30, 1917, the first one rupee note with the image of King George V was rolled out by the British Raj.

Interestingly, at that time, one rupee could fetch 10.7 gms of silver.

However, its circulation stopped in 1926 and resumed in 1940 with the image of King George VI. However, it was after India’s independence that the image of King George VI was removed and Ashoka pillar replaced it.

Till 1994, the journey of the one rupee note was smooth despite several economic experiments.

That year, the government felt that printing of the note cost more than the one rupee coin and also the note had a shorter lifespan. Hence the printing of the notes stopped that year. But, the government again started printing them in 2015. Till date, 28 different designs of the one rupee note have been released by the government of India in the last 100 years, said Durai. He also said that the note is the only one in the country to be printed directly by the Government of India and contains the signature of the Finance Secretary and not the RBI Governor.