Pakistan's first Banknotes

Following advice from an expert committee, the Governor-General of undivided India issued the ‘Pakistan (Monetary System and Reserve Bank) Order, 1947’ on August 14^th, 1947, the day before partition. Under this order, the Reserve Bank of India was to be the common currency authority for India and Pakistan until September 30^th, 1948, with notes issued by the Reserve Bank of India and the Government of India remaining legal tender in Pakistan until the same date. The order also allowed for notes issued by the Reserve Bank of India and the Government of India to be inscribed with ‘Government of Pakistan’ in Urdu and English and placed into circulation from April 1^st, 1948 under the responsibility of the Government of Pakistan. So, following seven months where notes of the Reserve Bank of India and the Government of India continued to circulate in Pakistan, modified notes of the Reserve Bank of India in the denominations of Rs. 2/-, 5/-, 10/- and 100/- rupees were introduced as planned, along with modified 1-rupee note of the Government of India.

 

Pakistan's first banknotes were presented to Quaid-i-Azam on April 1^st, 1948 by the Ministry of Finance. All the notes have the serial number of 000001and a perforation on front side (PAID 1-4-48).

The modification to the Indian notes consisted of two inscriptions on the front of the notes. At the top of the white area reserved for viewing the watermark the words ‘GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN’ were inscribed in English, while at the bottom of the white area the Urdu rendition of the same phrase appears, i.e. ‘Hakumat-e-Pakistan’ -حکومت پاکستان. It is important to note that these inscriptions are due to modifications to the printing plates and they are not ‘overprints’. This distinction is important, as there have been attempts to dupe collectors by overprinting notes of the Reserve Bank of India with the relevant inscriptions. All other details of the inscribed notes were the same as their counterparts, which continued to circulate in Pakistan and India.  

Pakistan unissued 2022 Coin

To celebrate the 75^th anniversary of Pakistan, a coin of Rs. 75/- was also designed but later it was dropped and a banknote of same denomination was issued in September 2022.

Technical/Legal error in Rs. 75 banknote issued on Pakistan's 75th anniversary.

Keeping in mind that a currency note despite of how fancy it is designed is just a piece of paper and is only valuable/legal by the presence of the promissory phrase endorsed by the Government. The promissory phrase must be clear and concise stating the AMOUNT to be paid to bearer on demand with a guarantee from the Government. 

 

This has been in the practice since British Raj in the subcontinent and all the banknotes issued by the Reserve Bank of India contain this promissory phrase. Note that the most important part of the phrase is the AMOUNT which will be paid to the bearer on demand by presenting this note. To make the AMOUNT prominent the AMOUNT is written in larger and bolder font.

As we all know that State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is the only authority that under the guarantee of Govt. of Pakistan issues banknotes of various denominations. The SBP also followed the rule and every note issued by them contains this promissory phrase in Urdu with the emphasis on AMOUNT of the banknote.

The promissory phrase translates to “State Bank of Pakistan will give the AMOUNT (mentioned in rupees according to the note) on demand to the bearer of this note and the note is issued under the guarantee of Government of Pakistan”.

The banknote of Rs. 75 which was issued on Pakistan's 75th anniversary in September 2022 also contains the promissory phrase but without the AMOUNT. The phrase without the amount translates to  "State Bank of Pakistan will give on demand to the bearer of this note issued under the guarantee of Govt. of Pakistan".

As the AMOUNT is missing, the phrase doesn’t make any sense and is legally incorrect, which makes the banknote of no value, and hence the banknote should be demonetized.