old 'naya' paise

The above is a photograph of a one ‘naya paisa’ coin dating back almost to the year of my birth.

I recently came across a few old one- and two- and five- and ten-paise coins in my collection. When  I was a child they were in wide circulation. Indeed, there were still lots of things that were available for five and ten paise: toffees and phuchka (three or four for ten paise), to name just two. With creeping but relentless inflation for more than half a century, such coins have long fallen out of use, of course (I read somewhere that a rupee today would be worth just four or five paise in 1950 in terms of purchasing power): you hardly see anything worth just a single rupee any more, and very soon, even one- and two rupee coins are going to become collectors’ items too, while one hundred rupee coins will come into vogue, as well as Rs.5- and 10,000 notes.

My grandfather used to tell me about new imported bicycles that cost Rs. 30, and my father bought a new motorbike in 1967 for about Rs. 1500. Sounds like a fairytale to the 50% of Indians who are below 25 years of age, I am sure. In 1977, the father of a friend of mine, a director of a large manufacturing firm, drew a salary of Rs. 8,000 a month, and he was considered rich.

Very soon our currency is going to go the way of the Italian lira and the Japanese yen, and we’d have millions of millionaires.

Those interested in coins might look up this website…