Sunday, December 27, 2020

Indian Dollar Coin

From 1939 until the end of 1941 when Japan entered World War II the Indian economy was not seriously affected. The requirement for the coin was well within the capacity of the Indian mints, but demands for foreign coinages brought increasing pressure both in metal stocks and machine capacity.

In England, the great pressure of work on the Royal Mint and the insecurity of sea communications from England to Africa, Arabia, and the East resulted in a number of foreign and colonial coinage orders being passed over to the Indian mints for execution – namely, those of Ceylon, East Africa, Egypt, Iraq, Malaya, Muscat, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the Maria Theresa Thaler. To this was added demands from several native Indian states, and the decision in March 1940 to adopt the 500 fine standard for the Indian silver coins.

As this pressure increased and metal supplies gradually became more difficult to obtain (the Amrican silver loans did not materialize until 1943), consideration was given to the problem of economies in domestic coin production, to leave more capacity free for foreign orders and also reduce the amount of metals required for this purpose.

It was in the light of these problems that the proposal was made to introduce a 2½ Rupee coin which was provisionally called a Dollar, the term Dollar having no meaning relative to any decimal standard.

The advantages of a 2½ Rupee coin were twofold:

(a) A considerable saving of metal would be affected, as each Dollar would replace two One Rupee coins and one Half Rupee coin, which together had a combined weight of 450 troy grains against a proposed weight of 225 grains for the single 2½ Rupee coin, and

(b) The productive capacity set free for other purposes, in the stamping department alone, one coining press engaged upon a 2½ Rupee coin would produce the same total value as three presses striking rupees and the half rupee.

The project reached the stage where pattern coins were prepared for submission and approval by the Minister of Finance, with the intention of introducing an amendment to the Coinage Act to enable the coins to be made legal tender. Before this could be done Japan entered the War. The situation changed immediately and the proposal had to be abandoned. 

Some samples of this pattern coin still exists and are very rare to see.


Saturday, December 26, 2020

Switching over to Decimal System in Pakistan

"Decimalization" refers to any process of converting traditional units of currency, to a decimal system (units related by powers of 10).

The dawn of 1961 ushered in a new era in the history of Pakistan. The age old Anna denomination was replaced by the decimal system as Pakistan switched over to the metric system. Now instead of One Pakistani Rupee having 16 Anna or 64 Pice, from 1st January 1961 was to equal 100 Paisa. Stamps and coins were replaced according to the new Decimal system.


Currency Conversion Table

First Day Cover (FDC) of stamps issued on 1st January 1961



Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Pakistan's first cancelled specimen Banknotes

An album of a set of three cancelled specimen banknotes with a serial number 000002 fetched Indian Rs. 1,840,000/- (around Pakistan Rs. 3,734,000/-) at an auction in 2018 in India. In today's money it is equal to around Pakistan Rs. 4,757,000/-

 
This set is significant considering the set contains the second ever notes printed and issued post independence. The first set with serial number 000001 was presented to Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

The notes were prepared by Thomas De La Rue & Company of Great Britain and were issued on October 1st, 1948 . The patterns of the note were predominantly based on geometric designs.

Details of the Rupees 5 Note

Dimensions: 128 x 72 mm
Watermark: None
Security Thread: None
Design: Blue on tan under-print, crescent moon and star at left, value at center and right in Urdu, value in English numeral at bottom left, signed bottom right, perforated CANCELLED.
Signed by: Sir Malik Ghulam Muhammad (first Finance Minister of Pakistan)
 
 
Details of the Rupees 10 Note

Dimensions: 146 x 82 mm
Watermark: None
Security Thread: None
Design: Orange on tan under-print, crescent moon and star at left, value at center and right in Urdu, value in English numeral at bottom left, signed bottom right, perforated CANCELLED.
Signed by: Sir Malik Ghulam Muhammad (first Finance Minister of Pakistan)
 
 
Details of the Rupees 100 Note

Dimensions: 166 x 90 mm
Watermark: None
Security Thread: None
Design: Green on tan under-print, crescent moon and star at left, value at center and right in Urdu, value in English numeral at bottom left, signed bottom right, perforated CANCELLED.
Signed by: Sir Malik Ghulam Muhammad (first Finance Minister of Pakistan)
 

Wednesday, December 02, 2020

Pakistan's most expensive Banknote ever sold

Did you know that banknotes could be worth more than 1000 times their face value? Banknotes become more valuable due to historical context, for setting records or for sheer rarity. From banknotes issued in 1948 and afterwards in Pakistan, you would be surprised at how much certain notes manage to sell at auction.

The rarest and most celebrated of all Pakistan banknotes was never going to come cheap. But the famous 1950 Rs. 100 Hajj Regular Banknote exceeded all expectations when it fetched a staggering  $76,700 (around Rs. 8,053,500/-) at an auction in 2015. In today's money it is equal to around Rs. 13,836,680/-


In the same year the specimen of the same banknote fetched  $65,232 (around Rs. 6,849,360/-) at an auction. In today's money it is equal to around Rs. 11,767,853/-


This was the first Hajj note issued by the Government of Pakistan. The Hajj note was prepared with the same design as the existing 100 Rupees note, but the color was changed from green to red and an over-print was applied to the front of the note, indicating the specific use of the notes. The overprint read (in English): ‘For Pilgrims From Pakistan For Use In Saudi Arabia and Iraq.’ The Hajj notes were not legal tender in Pakistan, but they could be used in Saudi Arabia to purchase Saudi riyals and be remitted to Pakistan via the usual channel of the Saudi Arabian banks.
 
The note was prepared by Thomas De La Rue & Company of Great Britain. The design for the note was similar to the 1 Pound note of the Bank of England that circulated between 1948 and 1960. Thus, the patterns of the note were predominantly based on geometric designs.
 
Details of the Note

Dimensions: 166 x 90 mm
Watermark: None
Security Thread: None
Signed by: Sir Malik Ghulam Muhammad (first Finance Minister of Pakistan)

Sunday, November 08, 2020

Tale of Waxing and Waning Crescent

The national flag of Pakistan symbolizes Pakistan's commitment to Islam and the rights of religious minorities. The green represents the Muslim majority in Pakistan and the white stripe represents religious minorities. The crescent represents progress and the five-pointed star represents light and knowledge. As the Crescent and Star is the most prominent part of Flag, it became the national symbol which can be incorporated in to state issued articles including Postage Stamps, Coins, Currency Notes, Stamp Papers, State Emblem, Government Stationary etc.

Pakistan Flag

To delve into the genesis of the Pakistan flag, the All India Muslim League used the Islamic ‘Subz Hilali Parcham’ meaning ‘green flag with the crescent’, since its inception in 1906, in Dacca.

All India Muslim League Flag

At the All India Muslim League’s Lucknow session in 1937, Mohammad Ali Jinnah pronounced that the League’s green flag – the flag of Islam, to be the national flag for the ‘Land of the Pure’. I feel confident that once they understand and realize the policy and program of the Muslim League, the entire Musalman population of India will rally round its platform and under its flag. So said Mohammad Ali Jinnah in his Presidential address. 

Meeting after 1937 Session

If you look at the crescent in Pakistan’s flag, it is facing the right side which means it’s a waning crescent, but it should be a waxing crescent (facing on the left side) which represents progress and growth. But as the flag is two-sided and always flows from left to right this contention is refutable.

Keeping the flag in mind initial postage stamps, currency notes, and coins issued by the Government of Pakistan contains the same position of crescent and star (facing on the right side).

Postage Stamps (1948) 









Coins (1948)

Currency Notes (1948-49)

But soon it is realized that only a flag can be exempted, for all other things a waxing crescent (facing on the left side) should be implemented. After that postage stamps, currency notes, and coins were redesigned with the implementation of a waxing crescent.

Postage Stamps (1949)

Coins (1950)

Currency Notes (1951 onward)

Even the state emblem of Pakistan which was adopted in 1954 contains the left facing waxing crescent.

State Emblem