Hyderabadi rupee


The Hyderabadi Rupee was the currency of the Hyderabad State from 1918 to 1959. It coexisted with the Indian rupee from 1950. Like the Indian rupee, it was divided into 16 annas, each of 12 pai. Coins were issued in copper for denominations of 1 and 2 pai and ½ anna, in cupro-nickel for 1 anna and in silver for 2, 4 and 8 annas and 1 rupee.
Hyderabad was the only Indian princely state that was permitted to continue issuing its own notes after it was subjected to join the Dominion of India in 1948 and the Republic of India in 1950.

History

The Government of Hyderabad made several efforts to organize private bankers to set up a banking company which could issue paper money. The British, however, resisted the attempts of Indian princely states to issue paper currency. The acute shortage of silver during the First World War and the contributions of Hyderabad to the British war effort led them to accept, in 1918, paper currency in denominations of Rs.10/- and Rs.100/- issued under the Hyderabad Currency Act.
The currency was designated the Osmania Sicca. One and five rupee notes were subsequently issued in 1919 and one thousand rupee notes were issued in 1926. After the setting up of the India Currency Notes Press at Nashik, Hyderabad notes came to be printed there.
In 1942, the Government of Hyderabad established the Hyderabad State Bank, with the responsibility, inter alia, of managing the OS. Hyderabad continued to mint its own coins until 1948, when India occupied the state after the Nizam refused to cede it to the new republic.
In 1950, the Indian rupee was introduced alongside the local currency, with the relationship of 7 Hyderabad rupees = 6 Indian rupees being used. In 1951, the Hyderabad rupee ceased to be issued and the Indian rupee became the main circulating currency, although the Hyderabad rupee was not demonetized until 1959.

Banknotes

The banknotes of Hyderabad were issued from 1918 until 1953. The ruling Nizam of Hyderabad was Mir Osman Ali Khan. Notes issued as early as 1916 have been reported. The notes are dated in the Fasli Era, so adding 589 to the FE date will convert it to the AD date. They were printed in Urdu, with the value of currency written in Urdu, Marathi, Telugu, Kannada and English on them.
In 1932, a quantity of unissued, but water stained Hyderabadi notes in 5, 10, and 100 rupee denominations were recovered from the SS Egypt, which sank off the island of Ushant near Brest, northern France in 1922. Many of these were given a special stamping and sold as souvenirs. These notes were in the process of being shipped from England where they had been printed. These notes are of historic interest to notaphilists. Some of the notes are printed slightly later than the dates that they bear.
The double letter serial number prefix determines what series the note is located in. Some of the 1939-53 issues have a single serial number prefix series code letter.
Hali Osmania paper currency in Hyderabad State that was returned to the treasury from 1 July 1953 to 31 October 1953 is O. S. Rs. 8.05 crores including one-rupee notes. and O. S. Rs. 18.42 crores including rupee coins and small coins as on 28 November 1953.

Signature chart

The signature also provides a clue to the approximate period when a note was issued. It is not yet certain what titles the signatories held, as the inscriptions are in Urdu.
This issue is historic as it was issued in the short period that Hyderabad attempted to become independent as a constitutional monarchy with the British Commonwealth.
This was the first issue after Hyderabad was liberated from Nizam rule and forced to be incorporated into the Dominion of India as a result of Operation Polo.

Fourteenth issue (1950) C.V.S. Rao

This was the first issue after India became a republic.