Fact Check: RBI Hasnt Released New Currency, Pictures Of Commemorative Coins Shared As Real Money
The Logical Indian Crew

Fact Check: RBI Hasn't Released New Currency, Pictures Of Commemorative Coins Shared As Real Money

Notes of Rs 2, Rs 3, Rs 350 and Rs 500, and coins of Rs 100, Rs 125 and Rs 1000 are being circulated on WhatsApp and social networking sites with claim of RBI releasing new currency as legal tender. The Logical Indian Fact Check team investigates the claim.

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A set of photographs of various denominations of Indian notes and coins are doing the rounds on social media with the claim that these new currencies have been recently released by Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The same claim was viral last year also.

The denomination of currencies being circulated are notes of Rs 2, Rs 3, Rs 350 and Rs 500, and coins of Rs 100, Rs 125 and Rs 1000.




The Logical Indian received a request to authenticate the images.


Claim:

RBI has released new currency as legal tender.

Fact Check:

The claim is false. These currencies are not legal tender.

According to RBI, the legal tender currencies are only Rs 2000, 500, 200,100, 50, 20, 10.

Below is a screenshot from the RBI website:


In a press release dated 26 June 2019, RBI had stated that 'Presently, coins of 50 paise, `1/-, 2/-, 5/- and 10/- denomination of various sizes, theme and design are in circulation'.

The statement further added that "there are doubts in some quarters, regarding the genuineness of such coins which has resulted in reluctance on the part of some traders, shopkeepers and members of the public to accept coins. This has impeded the free use and circulation of coins in certain pockets of the country,".

The Reserve Bank appealed to "members of the public not to give credence to such rumours and continue to accept these coins as legal tender in all their transactions without any hesitation."

Are The Coins Of Rs 1000, Rs 125 & Rs 100 Genuine?

A reverse image search was done and it was found that most of these coins were released as commemorative coin.

What Are Commemorative Coins?

Commemorative coins are released to honour certain personality or to celebrate a historically significant day but are not legal tender.

These have a distinct design with some kind of a reference to the occasion on which they were issued.

The first commemorative coin of India was issued in the year 1964, in the honor of our first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Since then, numerous coins from 5 paise to Rs 1000 have been issued.

Rs 1000

A Times Of India report stated that a Rs 1000 coin was released as a commemorative coin in 2012 by the government to celebrate the thousand years of Brihadeeswara temple. The temple is dedicated to Shiva and is located at South bank of Kaveri river in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu.

Rs 200

In 2016, a Rs 200 coin was issued by then Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma to commemorate the Martyrdom Day of 1857 mutiny hero Tatiya Tope.

Ramachandra Pandurang Tope, popularly known as Tatya Tope, was captured by the British forces on April 7, 1859, and after a hurried trial for waging war against the East India Company, was hanged to death on April 18, 1859, at Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh.

Rs 150

In 2011, when Pranab Mukherjee was the Finance Minister, a Rs 150 coin which was released to commemorate 150 years of Income Tax Collections and again thereafter couple of times.

Rs 100

Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a Rs 100 coin in 2018 in the memory of former Prime Minister Atal Vihari Vajpayee.

The coin was released a day ahead of late Vajpayee's birthday anniversary. His birthday, which falls on December 25, is celebrated as 'Good Governance Day' by the BJP. He was decorated with Bharat Ratna in 2014.

The coin was earlier released in the years 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2015 on other important occasions.

Rs 125

PM Modi in 2015 issued a Rs 125 coin to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar and again in 2018, by the Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on 29 June, to mark the occasion of Statistics Day to mark the 125th birth anniversary of PC Mahalanobis.

Notes In Viral Pictures Are Fake

Several red flags stand out in the pictures of the notes.

If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.

Also Read: Fact Check: Did Indian Rupee Become Weaker Than Bangladeshi Taka?

Contributors Suggest Correction
Writer : Aditi Chattopadhyay
,
Editor : Bharat Nayak
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Creatives : Abhishek M

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