100 Rupee Coin in India to be Launched with Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Portrait. Was it necessary?Let’s find out
An official statement yesterday created a stir amongst people as a new 100- rupee coin will soon be launched in India. The coins will have former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s portrait on one side of the coin.
100 rupee coin in India Details:
As per the statement, the coin just weighs 35 grams. On one side of the coin, Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s portrait along with his name is inscribed in Devanagari script and English as well. The years 1924 (Date of Atal’s birth ) and 2018(Date of his demise) will be inscribed at the bottom of his picture.
On one side there will be Atal Bihari Vajpayee, while the other side of the coin will have the Lion capital of Ashoka Pillar. Along with the Ashoka pillar “Satyamev Jayate” is inscribed below in Devanagari script.
Was it Necessary?
The question arises as to why did we need coins for a bigger denomination? Is it being done to honor great personalities of India or there can be some other reasons as well
Here are some Pro’s and Con’s of Paper Money and Coins
To help you answer that question for yourself We’ve listed down five pointers that should shape your view while determining which is better – Paper money or Coins:
Durability
Hands down this goes to coins.
Paper money only lasts for a few years at the most before finally it has to be taken out of circulation as a result of rips and tears and the ink fading, while coins practically last forever.
In fact, there are coins that are thousands of years old that are still around (although not in circulation) and we still occasionally get a wheat penny.
Cost-effectiveness
Paper money wins this one
While you have to manufacture new bills every year to replace the old ones, it’s still a lot cheaper to manufacturer paper money than it is to mint coins.
In fact, the zinc, nickel, and silver actually cost more to make than what they are actually worth, and many countries have actually stopped manufacturing pennies altogether because they are just not worth the cost (Canada being the most recent as of this post).
Portability
Again this goes to paper money.
This reason why paper money is more portable than coins is very simple: you can put bills into wallets, putting them all in one nice little place, and they are much lighter than coins, thus easier to transport. Plus, because you can actually put bills in wallets, it makes it much harder to lose them then coins (unless of course, you lose your wallet).
Counterfeiting
When it comes to counterfeiting, coins win this.
While coins can be counterfeited, simply because the process is so much more elaborate (and expensive) in making a coin then paper money, most counterfeiters don’t even bother to try to make counterfeit coins, and instead make counterfeit bills.
Heck, the only thing you actually required to make your own counterfeit paper money is a scanner and printer combo. You’ll, of course, be caught very quickly if you try to send it anywhere and arrested, but one can at least think of doing that. Think about minting a fake coin!
Disabled-friendly
Unless paper money is made at different sizes, the blind can’t tell a ₹1oo note from a ₹500 note.
Simply by the fact that no two coin denominations are alike (in size, thickness, engravings, and the edges along the coins), it’s far easier for the blind to tell one coin apart from another.
In fact, this is the reason to why coins were designed differently. Since it would be easier for the blind to use them in the first place.
The only thing we are concerned about is minting of a fake coin. A fake coin can be developed way more easily than a currency note and with so many people below the poverty line in the country. There is not much awareness of how a minted coin looks like and how a genuine one looks like.