AndhraNews.Net - Commemorative and Currency Coins on Indian Railways

New Delhi: September 2, 2003

The Minister of Railways, Shri Nitish Kumar and the Minister of Finance, Shri Jaswant Singh, released jointly commemorative and currency coins to mark the completion of 150 glorious years of Indian Railways at a function here today. The issue of coins in the denomination of Rupees One Hundred and Rupees Two follows a notification issued by the Ministry of Finance on August 11, 2003 under the Coinage Act, 1906.

The One Hundred Rupees coin in its obverse bears the Lion Capitol of Ashok Pillar with the Legend 'Satyamev Jayate' inscribed below flat on the left upper periphery with the word 'Prabhat' in Hindi and on the right upper periphery, flanked with the word 'INDIA' in English. It also bears the denominational value '100' in international numerals below the Lion Capitol flanked on the left lower periphery with the word 'Rupaye' in Hindi and right lower periphery RUPEE in English. The reverse side of the coin bears the portrait of 'BHOLU , THE GUARD', the mascot of Indian Railways, flanked on the left periphery with the words "150 GLORIOUS YEARS' in English, on the right periphery with the word "150 Gauravpurna Varsh" in Hindi, on the top the word "RAILWAYS' in English and "Railway" in Hindi and on the lower periphery

"BHOLU, THE GUARD" in English. The figure "2003" is shown below the word "Bholu, the Guard" in international numerals.

The inscription on the Two Rupee coin on both the sides is the same as in the Hundred Rupee coin. The weight of One Hundred Rupee coin is 35 grams and that of Two Rupees is six grams.

The Hundred Rupees coin will be commemorative and the Two Rupees coin currency coin.

The journey of 150 years of Indian Railways from April 16, 1853 to April 16, 2003 is a journey from the days of Lord Dalhousie to the Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It is also a saga of the all round progress made by the nation in all walks of life. Indian Railways have been prime mover of bulk transportation of people and goods. The progress of Indian Railways is the progress of the Nation.

Both the coins have been minted at India Government Mint, Kolkata. Members of the public, coin collectors and other organizations desirous to order proof sets for keeping these coins as souvenirs are required to approach the India Government Mint, Kolkata directly from January, 2004 onwards. The Mint will accept such orders through their website www.igmint.org on payment. The same information will be put on Indian Railways website www.indianrail.gov.in in January 2004 as per the advice of the General Manager, India Government Mint.

Earlier in 2002, a commemorative postal stamp was issued to mark the completion of 150 years of Indian Railways.

Press Release by: PIB/MYS:RKP:AS

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