Tuesday 1 March 2016

INR 10: Return from South Africa - Centenary Commemoration

Numismatics or Coins collection is not only about keeping coins. Through the coins, we can also learn about history, events, people, and the nation. Sometimes, a coin describes a story through a picture.

I'm starting a series wherein I'll cover one coin per post to share about fascinating stories behind these coins. I'll start this series with the Indian Coin.

Today's coin is about 10 Rupee Indian coin which was released to mark 100 years of Mahatma Gandhi's return from South Africa.


This coin was released on 8th Jan 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is very common to see Gandhi's picture in currency notes. However, this coin has two pictures of Gandhi: young Gandhi and the aged Gandhi.

Gandhi was 24 years old when he arrived in South Africa in 1893. He spent 21 years in South Africa and returned to India in 1915. By then, he was referred as Mahatma.

This coin reminds us the struggle and rise of Gandhi to Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa. Next time you get this 10 Rupee coin do observe the pictures. It's beautiful.