For a common person, money simply means currency and coins. This is so because in India, the payment system, which includes credit cards and electronic cash, still revolves mainly around currency and coins, especially for retail transactions. Currency Basics Coins - Coins in India are presently being issued in denominations of 50 paise, one rupee, two rupees, five rupees, ten rupees and twenty rupees. Coins up to 50 paise are called 'small coins' and coins of Rupee one and above are called 'Rupee Coins'. Coins can be issued up to the denomination of ₹1000 under The Coinage Act, 2011. Currency - Banknotes in India are currently being issued in the denomination of Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 200, Rs 500 and Rs 2000. These notes are called banknotes as they are issued by the Reserve Bank of India (Reserve Bank). The printing of notes in the denominations of Rs 2 and Rs 5 has been discontinued as these denominations have been coinised. Government of India vide their Notification no. 2652 dated November 8, 2016 have withdrawn the Legal Tender status of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations of banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series issued by the Reserve Bank of India till November 8, 2016. The paper currently being used for printing of banknotes in India is made by using 100% cotton. The highest denomination note ever printed by the Reserve Bank of India was the ₹ 10000 note in 1938 and again in 1954. These notes were demonetized in 1946 and again in 1978. What is the Indian currency called? The Indian currency is called the Indian Rupee (INR). One Rupee consists of 100 Paise. The symbol of the Indian Rupee is ₹. The design resembles both the Devanagari letter "₹" (ra) and the Latin capital letter "R", with a double horizontal line at the top. What is the role of the Reserve Bank of India in currency management? Reserve Bank has the sole right to issue banknotes in India. Section 25 of RBI Act, 1934 states that the design, form and material of bank notes shall be such as may be approved by the Central Government after consideration of the recommendations made by the Central Board of RBI. The Reserve Bank, in consultation with the Central Government and other stake holders, estimates the quantity of banknotes that are likely to be needed denomination-wise in a year and places indents with the various currency printing presses for supply of banknotes. The Reserve Bank, in terms of its clean note policy, endeavours to ensure circulation of good quality banknotes to the members of public. With this objective in view, the banknotes received back from circulation at its Issue Offices and Currency Chests are examined and only notes considered fit for circulation are reissued while the others (soiled and mutilated) are destroyed. In respect of coins, the role of RBI is limited to distribution of coins that are supplied by Government of India (GoI). The GoI is responsible for designing and minting of coins in various denominations as per the Coinage Act, 2011. Where are bank notes and coins produced/minted? Bank notes are printed at four currency presses, two of which are owned by the Government of India through its Corporation, Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd. (SPMCIL) and two are owned by the Reserve Bank, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Ltd. (BRBNMPL). The currency presses of SPMCIL are at Nasik (Western India) and Dewas (Central India). The two presses of BRBNMPL are at Mysuru (Southern India) and Salboni (Eastern India). Coins are minted in four mints owned by SPMCIL. The mints are located at Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and NOIDA. The coins are issued for circulation only through the Reserve Bank in terms of Section 38 of the RBI Act. How many languages appear in the language panel of Indian banknotes? There are fifteen languages appearing in the language panel of banknotes in addition to Hindi prominently displayed in the centre of the note and English on the reverse of the banknote. What is the meaning of "I promise to pay" clause? As per Section 26 of Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, the Bank is liable to pay the value of banknote. This is payable on demand by RBI, being the issuer. The promissory clause printed on the banknotes i.e., "I promise to pay the bearer the sum of Rupees …” denotes the obligation on the part of the Bank towards the holder of the bank note How does the Reserve Bank reach the currency to people? The Reserve Bank presently manages the currency operations through its 19 Issue Offices located at Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Belapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna, Thiruvananthapuram and a currency chest at its Kochi office. Further, a wide network of currency chests maintained and managed by scheduled banks are part of currency management architecture. The Issue Offices receive fresh banknotes from the currency printing presses which in turn send fresh banknote remittances to the currency chests. Direct remittances of fresh banknotes by the presses to select currency chests also happen. The Reserve Bank offices located at Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi (Mint Linked Offices) receive coins from the mints. These offices then send the coins to the other offices of the Reserve Bank who in turn send the same to Currency Chests and Small Coin Depots. The banknotes and rupee coins are stocked at the currency chests and small coins at the small coin depots. The bank branches receive the banknotes and coins from the Currency Chests and Small Coin Depots for further distribution among the public. For more FAQs on Indian Currency, click here. Source: RBI