>> THE FAKE COINS OF INDIA
To cheat gullible coin collectors of both India and abroad some unscrupulous persons are in the habit of producing fake coins and advertising about those in various websites,demanding huge amount for each coin. Actually these coins are never minted by any of the Indian mints for circulation. The purpose of this article is to aware my fellow coin collector friends about those fakes, so that they may not be fooled by those idiotic advertisement.
As I am not in possession of any of the fakes, all the pictures presented are collected from internet and I apologize for using those without the prior permission of the advertisers.
MAHATMA GANDHI 10 RUPEES ISSUE :
Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the nation, was born in 1869 A.D. He led the movement for India’s freedom from British Rule and India got her freedom on the 15th August, 1947. He was assassinated on 30th January, 1948. India
observed his birth centenary in the year 1969. To mark this celebration
some commemorative coins and Bank notes were issued. A 10 rupees coin
was issued in silver alloy on this occasion.
The Original coin issued:
This coin was issued with the metallic composition - Silver Alloy ( Silver-80%+Cupper-20%)
The Fake Issue:
Though
no Indian mint issued this coin in copper – Nickel alloy, this fake
coin was advertised for sale in a leading web site in Auction format
with the caption, “10 Rupees 1869-1948 Copeer+ Nickl Coin Most Rare Very Very Rare” with a starting bid of Rs. 9,870.00. This seller was a new seller with feed back score (0).
Jawaharlal Nehru , Issue:
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime minister of India from 15th August,1947 to 27th May,1964. After his sad death on 27th May 1964, to pay homage to the departed leader, a 50 paise coin was issued on 14th November 1964 in his commemoration.
The Original coin issued:
The Fake Issue:
No Indian mint issued this coin with a “Gandhi cap”
on Nehru’s head. Please see the following fake coin showing a cap on
Nehru’s head. This fake coin was advertised in a leading web site for
sale.
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The Fake coin showing Nehru wearing a cap |
25th anniversary of Independence Issue:
India got her freedom in 1947. On the occasion of 25th anniversary of Independence, India issued this 10 rupees coin on 15th August,1972.
The Original coin issued:
The Fake Issue:
75th anniversary of Dandi March Issue:
In commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Dandi March, India issued a 5 rupees commemorative coin on 2nd October, 2005, for general circulation.
The Original coin issued:
The Fake Issue:
This
fantasy coin, was minted with portrait of Ganhiji on one side and
replica of ‘Dandi Yatra’ sculpture on the other side. Neither the name
of the country of issue nor the value, is shown on this token. This
token was placed for auction, in a leading website, and sold for Rs.
250/-. Such coin was never issued by any of the Indian mints.
Indira Gandhi, Issue:
After the sad death of Srimati Indira Gandhi, the former Prime minister of India, 2 circulating coins were issued in the denomination of 50 paisa and 5 rupees. No mint in India issued a coin in the denomination of 1 rupee. See the following fake coins.
The Original coins issued:
The Fake Issues
Indira Gandhi 1 rupee coin with a “C”
Indira Gandhi 1 rupee fake coin with a “Rudrakshya Mala” and with legend “OM RUDRAYA NAMAH”
Another Indira Gandhi front view 1 rupee fake coin with a “Rudrakshya Mala” and with Canada mint mark 'c' and '1917 - 1984'
Another Indira Gandhi 1 rupee fake coin
Recently this fake 5 rupees coin is advertised in a leading website for sale.
Recently I found this fake coin, advertised in a leading website for sale.
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Indira 50 rupees fake |
This fake coin was advertised in a leading website for sale.
Dr. B.R.Ambedkar, Issue
In 1990, India issued
a 1 rupee coin to commemorate the birth centenary of Dr. B.R.Ambedkar,
the chief artitect in framing the Constitution of India.
The Original coins issued:
The Fake Issues
Dr.
B.R.Ambedkar, 2 rupee fake coin. His effigy appears to be same as that
on the 1 rupee original coin. This coin appears to be a MULE coin with
Ambedkar obv and National Integration rev.
Dr. B.R.Ambedkar, 2 rupee fake coin. His effigy doesn’t appear to be same as that on the 1 rupee coin.
Fisheries, Issue
A 50 paisa coin was issued for general circulation in 1986 on the 6th World Food Day.
The Original coins issued:
The Fake Issues
No Government mint in India issued 1 rupee Fisheries coin.
Small family Happy Family Issue
To
emphasize the need of Population Control, a 2 rupees coin was issued in
the year 1993,with the legend “SMALLFAMILY HAPPY FAMILY”.
The Original coins issued:
The Fake Issues
SUBHAS BOSE, Issue:
In 1997, India issued
a 2 rupee coin to commemorate the birth centenary of Netaji Subhas
Chandra Bose, a great patriot. Though the Kolkata mint wrongly issued
this coin in 1996, no 1 rupee coin was issued by any mint.
The Original coins issued:
The Fake Issues
Compare the face & the cap of Netaji on this fake coin with the face & the cap
of Netaji on the original coin. Again mark the spelling of surname on this fake
coin. It is “BOS” not “BOSE”
CHHATRAPATI
SHIVAJI, Issue:
In 1999, India issued a 2 rupee coin to commemorate CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI, a hero and a great King . Though this coin was minted from all 4 mints , no 1 rupee coin was issued by any mint.
The Original coins issued:
The Fake 1 Rupee Issue
SUN WITH LOTUS, 20 PAISA COIN Issue:
On the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations, in 1970, India issued, two coins in the denomination of 20 paisa and 10 rupees, for general circulation. Again India reissued the same two coins in the year 1971, but this time only as Proof or uncirculated specimens.
The Original 20 paisa coins (issue of 1970 for general circulation)
The Fake Issues
SUN WITH LOTUS, 20 PAISA COIN, 1971
Only proof and uncirculated coins were issued for this year. Does this coin specimen look like a proof or uncirculated coin?
SUN WITH LOTUS, 20 PAISA COIN, 1972
No mint in India issued such coins in 1972. Mark the poor quality of this
coin.
Another Sun and Lotus fake coin:
No mint in India issued such coins.
The Fake 25p coin, issue of 1971:
Please note that, no 25
paise coin was minted by any Indian mint in the year 1971. The first 25 p
coin, in cupro-nickel, was first minted in the year 1972.
Recently
I had the privilege of holding this fake coin in my hand and inspecting
it. The mint mark on this coin shows it to be minted at Mumbai mint.
The ‘4’ in the date of a 25p coin of 1974 has been tooled, so that it
appears to be ‘1’, thus changing the date of issue from ‘1974’ to
‘1971’.
Please
mark the differences between the first ‘1’ and the last ‘1’ in the date
of this coin. Those two ‘1’s are quite different, telling the story of
this forgery.
Note: Many thanks to Mr. Deepak Mody of Cuttack, for giving this coin from his collection for my study.
50 paisa Rhino issue:
The Original 50 paisa coin issued:
50 paisa Ferrite Stainless Steel coins were issued in India in1988. Its obverse had map of India with the Parliament house in front and its reverse
had lion capital and denomination.
The Original 25 paisa coin issued:
Again 25 paisa Ferrite Stainless Steel coins were issued in India in1988. Its obverse had an one horned Indian Rhinocerous and its reverse had lion capital and denomination
The Fake Issues
Mark these 3 fake coins. These show rhinoceros picture on one side and
50 paise denomination on the other side.
5
rupees regular coins were issued in Copper Nickel from 1992 to 2004.
Please see the picture of an original coin issued from Indian Mints.
The photo of the coin shown below is a fake coin. It was collected by me from circulation.
Mark
the differences between the original coin and the fake coin. The
Ashokan capitols on the obverse side and the floral design on the
reverse side are completely different. See also the photo of the edge of
this fake coin.
Two
lines are found on the edge of the fake 5 rs coin shown. These two
lines are at the two opposite ends on the border. This indicates that it
may be a cast coin.
To commemorate the Bicentennial Year of the State Bank Of India., India
issued a 5 rupees coin in 2006, for general circulation. This coin was
issued in Ferrite Stainless Steel. Please see the picture of the
original coin issued from Indian Mints.
The photo of the coin shown below is a fake coin.
Please
compare this fake coin with the original coin shown above. This fake
coin is made most probably from mild steel and a nickel coating has been
applied all over it. Mark the poor quality of finish of this fake coin
and also the rust deposited on its surface.
Note: This coin was collected by my friend Mr. Piyush Chandra of New Delhi from circulation, who presented this for my collection.
Another Fake 5 Rupees IT coin in Brass:
In the years 2007 and 2008, 5 rupees regular coins were issued in India in FSS, by Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad mints.
The Original coin issued:
This coin was minted in FSS.
The Fake Issue:
This fake coin was minted in Brass Alloy.
Fake Big One Rupee Issue (1983,84 and 85)
Big 1 rupee coins (weight – 8 gms, dia – 28 mm) were issued in India from 1975 to 1982 in Cupro – Nickel alloy. Please see the picture of a big 1 rupee coin issued from Indian Mints.
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Original Big 1 Rupee coin |
1983, Small One Rupee Issue:
From 1983 small 1 rupee coins (weight – 6 gms, dia – 26 mm) were issued in India from 1983 to 1991 in Cupro – Nickel alloy. Please see the picture of a small 1 rupee coin issued from Indian Mints.
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Original Small 1 Rupee coin |
A fake Big 1 rupee coin of 1985:
No India
mint issued big 1 rupee coins in the year 1985. But in some auction
sites big 1 rupee coins issued in the year 1985 are being sold. Please
see the picture of such a fake 1 rupee coin issued in 1985. This
particular coin has a peculiar inverted ‘B’,.as mint mark,
Another fake Big 1 rupee coin of 1985:
But
in some auction sites big 1 rupee coins issued in the year 1985 are
being sold. Please see the picture of another fake 1 rupee coin of 1985,
which was sold for a huge sum of Rs.11600/-. I feel pity for the fool
who purchased this fake coin for such a huge amount.
Fake Big One Rupee Issue (1970 to 74)
Big 1 rupee coins (weight – 10 gms, dia – 28 mm) were issued in India in Pure Nickel in
1962 and 1970 for general circulation and from 1971 to 1974 for
inclusion in Proof sets. As the 1 rupee coins of 1970 to 1074 have
become very scarce, fake coins for these years are being sold to
gullible collectors.
A fake Big 1 rupee coin of 1970:
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Fake 1 rupee, 1970 |
A new die was prepared to produce this fake coin. Please mark the poor quality of engraving found on the border design.
Another fake Big 1 rupee coin of 1970:
Please
mark the above 1 rupee, 1970 fake coin. This coin is actually a
cupro-nickel coin of 1976 of Mumbai mint. The last digit '6' of 1976 is
tooled, so that it appears to be a zero. But this zero is smaller in
size and appears towards the bottom of the line.
Please see the fake coin shown above. Here a cupro-nickel
coin of 1979 of Mumbai mint is used. The last digit '9' of 1979 is
tooled, so that it appears to be a zero. But this zero is smaller in
size and appears towards the top of the line.
Similarly other fake coins of 1971 to 1974 are also offered for sale.
A simple process to test the above Fakes:
All
the rupee coins minted in 1970 to 1974 are pure nickel coins weighing
10 grammes. As nickel is magnetic, you can test the coin with a magnet.
If the coin being tested is attracted by a magnet, it may be a nickel
coin. Iron is also magnetic but if the coin being tested is made of
iron, it may show signs of rusting, Please also weigh the suspected
coin. It must be 10 gms. But if is tooled from a 1976 or 1979,
cupro-nickel, 1 rupee coin, it will neither be attracted by magnets nor
weigh 10 gms.
Fake 10 rupees Bi- metallic IT coin:
Bi-
metallic IT coins were issued in India, in the years 2008, 2009 and
2010, from Noida mint only. No other Indian mint minted these coins.
A fake bi-metallic coin:
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Fake Bi-metallic |
Mark
the poor quality of minting of this fake coin. The lions appear starved
for days, the legend 'Satyameva Jayate' in Hindi, though actually 2
separate words, found written continuously like one word. Though
Hyderabad mint did not mint any of the bi-metallics, a star mint mark
appears under the date.
AN ALTERED 10 RS BI-METAL COIN:
All
Bi-metal coins minted by Indian mints have a central circular piece of
cupro-nickel alloy and an outer ring of Al-bronze alloy. Some notorious people
have separated both the pieces by some mechanical process and sell both
the separated pieces as error coins. The photos of such separated pieces are shown below.
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10 rs - 2008 - obverse |
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10 rs - 2008 - reverse
|
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10 rs - 2006 - center piece separated |
(Photo Courtsey- Mr. Tejas H Shah, Mumbai)
A FAKE 1 PICE HORSE COIN :
In the year
1950, after India became a Republic, some coins were
issued, showing Indian themes, popularly called as Anna series coins. At that
time: 1 Rupee = 16 Annas, 1 Anna = 4 pice. Hence 1 Rupee = 64 pice. The 1 Pice
coin showing the picture of a Running
Horse was issued from Indian mints in the years 1950 to1955. From 1957 the Anna
series coins were discontinued and India issued decimal coins, in which 1 Rupee
= 100 Naye Paise.
The fake 1 pice coin minted:
Though the last
genuine 1 pice coin was issued in 1955, this fake coin shows its year of issue
as 1957.
Acknowledgement: Thanks to Mr. Tejas Shah , Mumbai for providing photo of this fake coin.
A Fake Quarter Rupee:
No such coin was ever issued in India.
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Note:
I have only shown those fake coins on this page, about which, I have
gathered some informations. My readers are requested not to think, that
those coins, not displayed on this page, are 100% genuine.
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THEY ATTEMPTED TO CHEAT AND WERE SUCCESSFUL
Almost
all human being always try to earn money. Some earn it by rendering
physical labor, some by doing some business and some by doing other
jobs. But there are some persons, who try to make money by cheating
others. Here I will show, how some persons made some money by cheating
others.
These
cheats tried to change the shape and size of some existing low value
circulating coins to the shape and size of some other high value
circulating coins by grinding them on some rough stone surface and
succeeded to circulate these home made fraud coins as high value circulating coins.
The
story of their success may be like this. They may have kept these home
made fraud coins in a pile of original coins and went to purchase some
article from a shop, owned by an aged shopkeeper with a poor vision.
They might have chosen the evening hours, as there would low visibility
in a rural shop where the shopkeeper uses a kerosene lamp for lighting
purposes and the shops would have been crowded at that time. After their
purchase was over and the cash was handed over and the shop keeper
counted and kept the cash in his cash box, their mission of cheating
would have been successful.
A 5 Naye paise Cupro-Nickel coin changed to the shape of a 25 paise coin:
(Resulted in a gain of 20 paisa)
A 10 paise Aluminum coin changed to the shape of a 50 paise Cupro-Nickel coin:
(Resulted in a gain of 40 paisa)
A 10 paise Aluminum coin changed to the shape of a 20 paise Aluminum coin:
I have
Resulted in a gain of 10 paisa
A Half Anna George VI Cupro Nickel Coin Changed to the shape of a George VI Quarter Rupee coin:
Resulted in a gain of 3.5 Annas.(Approximately 20 paisa)
I
have also heard that a few days back, some children have joined two
steel 50 paisa coins with some gum and handed over the same to a
shopkeeper as a 5 rupee steel coin and purchased chocolates from him.
But sorry, I was unable to collect the specimen, hence unable to show
any photographs.
I
have this coin in my collection from my school days (1960-64. The
obverse and the reverse of this coin is identical to George VI, Half
Rupee Nickel Coin, of 1947. The last digit of the year of manufacture is
faded. Its reverse side shows a diamond mint mark indicating that it
was from Bombay mint.
The worn-out condition of the coin indicates its wide circulation and
use. The edge of this coin appears to be milled. But this coin is of
BRASS alloy. But I am unable to find out about this in any coin .catalog
Hence I am in doubt whether this coin was a genuine issue or Off metal strike or a forged one.
Can any coin collector friend help me in clarifying my doubts?