Loose change

Our coins tell us something about who we are as a nation. They are small durable metal pictures that give little glimpses about who we are - or at least who our government thinks we are.

Growing up in Bombay - our home was a transit point for visitors from near and far - and so it was almost natural that my first 'hobby' was collecting coins from different countries.

It was a small step from there to start collecting Indian coins too. I tried to get a coin from each denomination and from each year.

Compared to some of the exotic ones that I had from abroad, most of our coins seemed pretty drab - often ridiculously light and quickly worn out. It was after all the time of austerity under Indira Gandhi rule of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The designs were bland. Period. Our dear government did manage to mint commemorative coins in the lower denominations (a 10 paisa coin actually bought something in those days! - indeed it still existed). Most of these commemoratives were government 'public awareness messages' printed on small bits of metal (a.k.a. propaganda). We usually got something 'nation-building' like the 1974 10 paisa coin that states: "planned families: food for all" or coins celebrating some UN year - the year of the youth, the year of the family, a particular slogan being touted by the FAO etc.

The last two decades have seen more commemorative issues - but in small circulations and rarely seen in your pocket change. The main coins of low denominations (the 50 paisa now being the lowest coin) being pretty boring repeats of the same design each year - only the year change to show when it was minted.

A few years ago there was a small storm in our national chai cup when it was alleged that the Rs. 2 coin had a Christian cross. Some dear folks thought that this was part of a great conspiracy to turn India into and Christian nation - and put the blame for this on the doorstep of dear Sonia Gandhi. Now I have no idea about how religious this lady is - but one thing I do know - if she is a Christian of any sort - she certainly has never said so publicly. I have seen photos of her in all places of worship of every conceivable religion - but have never seen a photo of her at a church or a Christian prayer meeting.

Our dear government was stung into action. The offending cross design on the Rs. 2 coin - which was supposed to show national integration - was replaced with a grand design of... a lady's hand showing two fingers! Then the 1 rupee coin followed ... with a hand showing a thumb stuck up! And a fifty paisa piece with just a fist! So much for our much touted leap into the 21st century - we are left with semi-literate symbols to grace our currency.

You just don't know whether to laugh or cry.

I was reminded of all of this by a pleasant discovery the other day. I was about to give a coin to a shop keeper when I noticed it was different from the standard 'two finger' Rs. 2 coins.

It turns out that last year a commemorative Rs. 2 had been minted - to celebrate the birth bicentenary of Lois Braille. I was particularly pleased to see braille lettering on it - which I assume is the name of the inventor of the braille script in the script through which so many blind people around the world have been able to read.

Since the braille text does not match with the rendering of Lois Braille's name in English - I assume that it is written in Hindi - with the half vowels kicking in - the last part seems to be the letters "b" "r" and "l" instead of a letter by letter English version.


We have so many amazing people to celebrate through coins. A rich and varied country which has much to offer and inspire. Surely we can have some more little portraits in our pockets to celebrate who we are - and where we want to go.