Category Archives: Numismatics

Comptroller and Auditor General of India coin set booking

Posted by on May 27, 2012 3 comments

Kolkata mint has announced the booking of Comptroller and Auditor General of India 2 coins (Rs 150 & Rs 5) set. The proof set is priced at Rs 4291/- and UNC set is priced Rs 3857/-. The booking will be done between May 28, 2012 until July 28, 2012.

Delivery of the coins will start 8 months after closure of the booking. The mint has also started rebooking for Income Tax – 150 Years of Building India as well.

The mint will also start over the counter sale of Comptroller & Auditor General of India set, Mother Teresa Birth Centenary set and Rabindranath Tagore 150th Birth Anniversary set from May 28, 2012. There will be some premium and bank charges applicable for the counter sale. Also it will be subject to availability.

Details can be found at http://igmkolkata.spmcil.com

Coin booking: IG mint Kolkata

Posted by on March 22, 2011 82 comments

IG Mint kolkata has started booking for the following coin sets.

Mother Teresa Proof & Unc set

Rabindranath Tagore Proof & Unc set

XIX COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2010 DELHI Proof & Unc set

LOUIS BRAILLE 2 rupees Proof coin set. Following advertisement was posted in leading newspapers today.

You can book the coins at http://igmkolkata.spmcil.com/SPMCIL/Interface/SellableProducts.aspx

Mint marks on Indian coins

Posted by on February 6, 2011 5 comments

Each currency coin minted in India (for that matter anywhere in the world) has a special mint mark on it to identify the Mint.

The Bombay (Mumbai) Mint
Bombay (Mumbai) Mint has a small dot or a diamond under the date of the coin (year of issue). The Proof coins from this mint have a mint mark ‘B’ or ‘M’.

Mumbai mint mark

The Calcutta Mint
Calcutta mint has no mark under the date of the coin (year of issue). Many people confuse “c” found under some coins to be from calcutta mint. However, that symbol belongs to the Ottawa mint in Canada.

calcutta mint mark

The Hyderabad Mint
Hyderabad Mint has a star or a diamond under the date of the coin (year of the issue). The other mint marks from Hyderabad include a split diamond, and a dot in the diamond.
hyderabad mint mark starHyderabad mint split diamondhyderabad mint dot diamond mark

The Noida Mint
Noida mint has a dot under the year of issue (coin date).

noida mint dot mark

Many of the India coins have been minted in foreign mints over the years. Some of the mint marks of these foreign mints are given below.

Royal Canada Mint
The Royal mint at Ottawa, Canada has a small letter “c” as the mint mark which is placed beneath the year of the issue.

canada mint mark

The Seoul Mint
Seoul mint mark is a five point star. The mark is placed exactly on the first or the last digit of the year of issue (date of coin).

Seoul Mint mark

The Royal Mint London
The Royal mint at Birmingham has a small dot which is placed exactly on the first digit of the year of issue.

The Moscow Mint
The Moscow mint has a mark MMD under an oval which is placed under the year of the issue of the coin.

Moscow Mint mark

Heaton Press Mint UK
The Heaton Press mint UK has a mark “H” under the last digit of the date. The symbol is decorated.

Heaton Press UK Mint Mark

Mexico City Mint
The Mexico City mint has a mark “M beneath o” under the date of the coin (year of the issue)

Mexico City mint mark

The other foreign mints where Indian republic coins were minted include Kremnca Mint, Pretoria Mint (South Africa) and Dominican Republic mint.

Images courtesy: Jina datha & Bha rat Coins

Proof coins vs Uncirculated coins

Posted by on February 4, 2011 1 comment

As a coin collector, it is important to know the difference between uncirculated and proof coins. As the name suggests, uncirculated coins are just that – uncirculated. They are of the same quality as circulated coins. The only difference being they have never been circulated in the market publicly. They may be packed in a sealed mint case and provided with a certificate. If preserved correctly, there should not be any visible scratches or marks on an uncirculated coin.

Proof coins on the other hand are of much higher quality than an uncirculated coins. They are specially minted to be a collector’s item and are never circulated in the market. Originally proof coins were used as a specimen coins. Before minting a new coin, few proof sets were prepared for approval by the King or the government. Later these sets were auctioned or sold off to collectors. About 200 years ago, these sets started attracting more and more attention. As a results many mints started minting proof sets for collectors.

In order to understand the difference between proof coins and uncirculated coins, it is important to know the process of coin minting. Coins are minted using a die that is struck on a metal base (usually round). Generally two dies strike a coin base on two faces (front face- obverse and back face- reverse).

A proof coin’s die is treated with special chemicals. The high points in the die are treated with acids where as the background (base) of the die is polished to give it a mirror like look. This gives a mirror finish to the proof coin in the base and a matt finish to the raise part of the coin face. Also proof coins are generally struck twice or more times to make sure that even the smallest elements of the design are clearly visible. Generally Proof coins production is manually handled i.e. they are fed into the machine for strike and then removed from the machine manually. Each proof coin is manually inspected before being packed. This results in a 99% flawless coin.

Although it is natural to assume that proof coins are more expensive compared to uncirculated coins, it may not be the case all the time. Proof coins also have a special mint marks to suggest they are proof coins.