Hello everyone... I am an Indian five rupees coin. Let me share my story with you till the present.
I was minted at Moscow, the capital of Russia in the year 2000. If you are surprised why an Indian coin should be minted in a foreign country, let me take you to the past for some time. As our country became independent, it was left with a legacy of non-decimal coinage comprising of annas and pice. After the decimal coinage was introduced in 1957, coins started becoming popular and subsequently coin production started scaling new heights. In addition to this, the overheads incurred by the Government in the production of smaller currency notes gave a great impetus to the production of coins of higher denominations than one rupee.
So in the 1990s, the coinisation of one, two and five rupee notes started taking place and with that I was born. Again, the earliest known mints viz. Calcutta and Bombay couldn't satisfy the increasing needs. So in addition to new mints at other important places in India such as Hyderabad and Noida, Indian Government sought help from foreign mints for the same. Some of these mints are located in Canada, Mexico, Korea and Russia besides other nations.
So I was born at Moscow Mint, Russia in the year 2000. I was neatly carved using Cupro-Nickel alloy as a circular coin of diameter 23 millimeters and weighing nine grams. I had the Ashoka's pillar engraved on one side, usually referred to as the head of the coin, and my denomination on the other. Below the denomination the year of minting was specified that is 2000 and below it, precisely below the third digit from the left, an identification mark was provided to distinguish among coins of various mints. I along with all my mates have an 'MMD' engraved in style and we call it our pride, our legacy and our authority. If you would like to see how I look from a closer view, you can just click here.
So thus I was ready to be sent to my country where lay my destination -where I was supposed to serve my people and give them something they want, in exchange of me, so that my destiny is transferred to another person and so on and so forth. I was packed securely among many of my mates who, like me, appeared new, shiny and just as sportive as me. I particularly remember one who lay just by my side in the little space available for each of us. We had talked. I had said him that I was looking forward to the time when I shall start exchanging hands and he had retorted saying 'well, I might not travel as much as you. I might just become someone's prized possession' and with this he had showed me his back. I saw with amazement that he had the inscription of a man- a bald man- on the face where I had the Ashoka's Pillar. He had then said with overflowing pride that 'I am a commemorative coin. India gives special orders to make us. I am made in memory of Mahatma Gandhi who is called the Father of our Nation and his face has been carved on me. You see, I can be a ready possession of a numismatist'. I remember having had felt honoured that my country takes such an initiative to pay tribute to these national heroes. The coin had ended the conversation with these words of scorn: - 'anyway, hope you travel far and who knows, some day you might become the possession of my owner, who will sooner or later part with you but never with me!'. His words had certainly made me feel envious that day but I knew I had to get over it.
After all, life's all about journeying.
I reached my soil a few hours after that conversation. Though I couldn't see outside, I felt a different aura when the flight landed at IGI Airport, New Delhi. My country, my workplace I thought and I smiled for the first time after the time when I had expressed my desire in front of that proud coin. We were all taken to the RBI amidst tight security measures. A little more time and I shall be free, I said to myself, in excitement. And at that moment I heard an uproar from the other parcels around me. They were excited too, my counterparts of other denominations. There all of us were grouped in various proportions to be transferred to other sub-offices of the RBI in different states. So I was sent to RBI, Bhubaneswar, Odisha and from there, I was sent to the State Treasury as remittance. Here onwards I was destined to start my journey among the masses.
I shall tell you the rest of my story in the next part of this autobiography. Till then, you can post your comments as to how you felt reading the first half of my life.
I was minted at Moscow, the capital of Russia in the year 2000. If you are surprised why an Indian coin should be minted in a foreign country, let me take you to the past for some time. As our country became independent, it was left with a legacy of non-decimal coinage comprising of annas and pice. After the decimal coinage was introduced in 1957, coins started becoming popular and subsequently coin production started scaling new heights. In addition to this, the overheads incurred by the Government in the production of smaller currency notes gave a great impetus to the production of coins of higher denominations than one rupee.
So in the 1990s, the coinisation of one, two and five rupee notes started taking place and with that I was born. Again, the earliest known mints viz. Calcutta and Bombay couldn't satisfy the increasing needs. So in addition to new mints at other important places in India such as Hyderabad and Noida, Indian Government sought help from foreign mints for the same. Some of these mints are located in Canada, Mexico, Korea and Russia besides other nations.
So I was born at Moscow Mint, Russia in the year 2000. I was neatly carved using Cupro-Nickel alloy as a circular coin of diameter 23 millimeters and weighing nine grams. I had the Ashoka's pillar engraved on one side, usually referred to as the head of the coin, and my denomination on the other. Below the denomination the year of minting was specified that is 2000 and below it, precisely below the third digit from the left, an identification mark was provided to distinguish among coins of various mints. I along with all my mates have an 'MMD' engraved in style and we call it our pride, our legacy and our authority. If you would like to see how I look from a closer view, you can just click here.
So thus I was ready to be sent to my country where lay my destination -where I was supposed to serve my people and give them something they want, in exchange of me, so that my destiny is transferred to another person and so on and so forth. I was packed securely among many of my mates who, like me, appeared new, shiny and just as sportive as me. I particularly remember one who lay just by my side in the little space available for each of us. We had talked. I had said him that I was looking forward to the time when I shall start exchanging hands and he had retorted saying 'well, I might not travel as much as you. I might just become someone's prized possession' and with this he had showed me his back. I saw with amazement that he had the inscription of a man- a bald man- on the face where I had the Ashoka's Pillar. He had then said with overflowing pride that 'I am a commemorative coin. India gives special orders to make us. I am made in memory of Mahatma Gandhi who is called the Father of our Nation and his face has been carved on me. You see, I can be a ready possession of a numismatist'. I remember having had felt honoured that my country takes such an initiative to pay tribute to these national heroes. The coin had ended the conversation with these words of scorn: - 'anyway, hope you travel far and who knows, some day you might become the possession of my owner, who will sooner or later part with you but never with me!'. His words had certainly made me feel envious that day but I knew I had to get over it.
After all, life's all about journeying.
I reached my soil a few hours after that conversation. Though I couldn't see outside, I felt a different aura when the flight landed at IGI Airport, New Delhi. My country, my workplace I thought and I smiled for the first time after the time when I had expressed my desire in front of that proud coin. We were all taken to the RBI amidst tight security measures. A little more time and I shall be free, I said to myself, in excitement. And at that moment I heard an uproar from the other parcels around me. They were excited too, my counterparts of other denominations. There all of us were grouped in various proportions to be transferred to other sub-offices of the RBI in different states. So I was sent to RBI, Bhubaneswar, Odisha and from there, I was sent to the State Treasury as remittance. Here onwards I was destined to start my journey among the masses.
I shall tell you the rest of my story in the next part of this autobiography. Till then, you can post your comments as to how you felt reading the first half of my life.
acha hai..
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