Economy and day-to-day transactions in India was completely dependent on coinage until the 18th century. The Mughals started trading with private European countries who later established their own banks in India. The very first Indian bank notes were issued by the Bank of Hindostan which was established in 1770 in Calcutta. Very soon, other semi-government and private banks started producing old banknotes of India. In the initial years, they featured only texts without any vignettes or designs. The Early Days
The British East India Company started growing in power as they set up factories in different parts of the Indian subcontinent. For administrative purposes, the territories were divided into three presidencies, Bengal, Madras and Bombay. They established the Bank of Bengal which issued old currency banknotes depicting an image of a female personifying “Commerce”. The Bank name and denomination was printed in Urdu, Bengali, and Nagri. Some of these rare bank notes have a good market value even today. Paper Currency Act of 1861 After the Paper Currency Act was introduced in 1861, the British Government took the responsibility of issuing Banknotes of India. James Wilson laid the foundations and rules for producing these Indian presidency banknotes. Early bank notes of the british government depicted a portrait of Queen Victoria and were issued in various denominations such as Rs10, Rs20, Rs50, Rs100, and Rs1,000. They are all termed as notes belonging to the “Victoria Portrait series”. These old Indian bank notes were produced for a specific circle of issue like Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Rangoon, Kanpur, Lahore, and Karachi. They were sometimes cut into halves when they had to be transferred to a distant recipient. The first half was mailed via post and the second half was mailed after the sender was intimated about the first half’s receipt. Early bank notes of India issued by the French colony in the 1890s bore the denomination “roupie”. “Rupia” notes were introduced in 1883 and were used until 1961. Old Indian bank notes featuring a portrait of George V were introduced in 1923. In 1928, the first Indian bank note printing press was established in Nasik. The Reserve Bank of India was given the responsibility to manage issuance of Indian currency in 1935. The RBI issued its first note in 1938, depicting a portrait of King George VI.
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AuthorPassionate collector of coins, banknotes & stamps who loves researching about ancient, medieval & modern Indian history! Archives
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