''The Revised Standard Reference Guide to Indian Paper Money'' is a 2012 book by
Rezwan Razack and
Kishore Jhunjhunwalla. The book is a comprehensive compilation of facts, milestones, and other details regarding
paper money
A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand.
Banknotes were originally issued ...
in India. It was published in India by Coins & Currencies.
Kishore Jhunjhunwalla and
Rezwan Razack are avid collectors of Indian currency. The book traces the evolution of Indian currency dating back to 1770. It captures the various nuances of modern-day currency as well as incidents that helped shape this sector over the years. The book is in its second edition—the first was authored by Jhunjhunwalla, whose collection was later purchased by
Rezwan Razack. The revised edition was published after 10 years of research. The book was introduced to the public by Uma Shankar, Regional Director of the
Reserve Bank of India
The Reserve Bank of India, chiefly known as RBI, is India's central bank and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is responsible f ...
on 13 January 2012.
Summary
The Revised Standard Reference Guide to Indian Paper Money’’ includes high resolution colour images of notes from Semi-Government and Presidency Banks, which functioned until 1861. The Government of India (
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi language, Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Q ...
) then undertook the issue of banknotes in 1861, and that is when all Early, Private, and Presidency Banks’ currency issues ceased. The Government of India issued banknotes in 1861 which were
uniface
In archaeology, a uniface is a specific type of stone tool that has been flaked on one surface only. There are two general classes of uniface tools: modified flakes—and formalized tools, which display deliberate, systematic modification of ...
with a portrait of
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
, and underprinting was introduced to the portrait in the series beginning 1867.
Vignettes in the book include the history of Indian bank notes dating back to 1770, when the Bank of Hindostan, a private bank located in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comm ...
issued its first banknotes. However, the earliest banknote to still survive is dated 1810, by the
Bank of Bengal. The book includes a comprehensive listing of all Indian banknotes since 1770.
Early on, all paper currency of India was printed by the Bank of England and shipped to India for distribution. The British India banknotes of King George V were also printed in England. In 1928, the India Security Press at Nasik became functional and took over from the
Bank of England Press the printing of notes. In 1935, the
Reserve Bank of India
The Reserve Bank of India, chiefly known as RBI, is India's central bank and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is responsible f ...
was established, and since then it has been the only currency-issuing authority and monetary agency for India. The King George VI Portrait Series were in circulation from 1936 till 1947. The series of King
George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Q ...
and King
George VI
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...
were also overprinted for use in
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
. The overprinted banknotes of King George VI were also used in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
until 1948.
The book also deals with banknotes since Indian independence, up to the current series of banknotes with the portrait of
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure ...
. These include the special-issue notes intended for use in the Persian Gulf for the Trucial States, as well as money used by the
Hajj pilgrims.
The Osmania
banknotes of Hyderabad
The Hyderabadi Rupee was the currency of the Hyderabad State from 1918 to 1959. It coexisted with the Indian rupee from 1950. Like the Indian rupee, it was divided into 16 Indian anna, annas, each of 12 pai. Coins were issued in copper (later b ...
of 1919-1953 also form a part of this book. Also listed are the issue of banknotes by
Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to:
* Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent
* Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory
* Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administere ...
and the Hawala notes of
Saurashtra. The scope of this book includes the issues of Indo-Portuguese notes for Goa and Indo-French territories at Pondicherry. The cash coupons of
Indian Princely States
A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to a ...
that were printed on paper were issued to counteract the shortage of metal during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. The Prisoner of War coupons used as money by the interned prisoners of the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902, World War II, and the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the
Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Dec ...
are also illustrated.
The book has an entire chapter on Essays, Patterns, Proofs and Trials, which displays many of the best Indian banknotes that were designed but never made it into circulation.
The book illustrates the watermarks and explains the minute features of the notes in detail.
Authors
The book has been primarily authored by
Rezwan Razack, the joint managing director of Prestige Groups, in association with
Kishore Jhunjhunwalla, the sole author of the original ‘’The Standard Reference Guide to Indian Paper Money’’. The authors of the book also acknowledged the roles of Rekha Chandrabhanu, Bazil Shaikh, Murali Thantry, Sanjay Mittal, Mahalingeshwar Athani and Amarbir Singh, an expert on the banknotes and coins of the
Nizam of Hyderabad.
The Hyderabad notes are also known as
Osmania
Osmania University is a collegiate public state university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Mir Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad in 1918 , He released a farman to establish OSMANIA UNIVERSITY on the day of 28 August 1918. ...
Sicca notes. The authors have dedicated a websit
indianbanknotes.comto keep the scholars and collectors up to date on Indian Banknote research.
References
Book and Cover Designer
Devika Thukral, Propel Desig
- designers for the book
{{DEFAULTSORT:Revised Standard Reference Guide to Indian Paper Money
2012 non-fiction books
Books about the economy of India
Banknotes of India
Numismatic catalogs
Indian non-fiction books
21st-century Indian books