PMG's Featured Note of the Month: India 500 Rupees

Posted on 8/22/2023

India celebrates its independence in August, and this note shows Gandhi as well as a depiction of a nonviolent protest march for self-rule.



India, Reserve Bank ND (2000-02) 500 Rupees with a Solid-1 Serial Number graded PMG 66 Gem Uncirculated EPQ Click images to enlarge.

Country: India

Catalog Number: 93

Date: ND (2000-02)

Denomination: 500 Rupees

Varieties: The PMG Population Report shows eight varieties (based on signature combinations and whether the serial numbers are printed over an A, B, C or no letter), plus a Specimen.

What makes it special? This banknote is from the Mahatma Gandhi series of banknotes, which all show a left-facing portrait of the Indian independence advocate. Indians celebrate their Independence Day on August 15, the day in 1947 when Great Britain ended its colonial rule. The back of the note depicts the 1930 Dandi Salt March, a nonviolent campaign that Gandhi led against Britain's salt monopoly.

Did you know? Gandhi's birthday on October 2 is also an important national holiday in India. Sadly, Gandhi was assassinated just a few months after India gained its independence. His style of nonviolent resistance was an inspiration for the way the civil rights movement of the 1960s was conducted in the United States.

Total graded by PMG: As of late August 2023, the PMG Population Report includes 80 examples of Pick# 93 (in varieties from 93a to 93h) and three Specimens.

PMG median grade: PMG 64 Choice Uncirculated.

PMG highest graded: The PMG Population Report lists one example (a Pick# 93a) in PMG 68 Superb Gem Uncirculated EPQ.

Sales highlights: An example of Pick# 93b graded PMG 50 About Uncirculated with a Serial Number Error realized $132 at a Heritage Auctions sale in January 2018. An example of Pick# 93c graded PMG 58 Choice About Uncirculated with a Solid-8 Serial Number realized $80 at a Stack's Bowers sale in October 2020.

PMG Registry: This note is part of several categories, including India Complete, 1917-Date, P1-Date, where an example of Pick# 93d graded PMG 66 Gem Uncirculated EPQ appears in Steve Desouza's Mission 2022 British India by Prefix set. The note is also part of the Mahatma Ghandi Set, 1987-Date, Issued Notes, Complete, Including Varieties, where examples of Pick# 93a, 93b and 93d reside in Steve Desouza's 1987-Date, P87a-Date Mahatma Gandhi set. Four notes (Pick# 93a, 93c, 93e and 93g) are part of jeyanth7's ~JxJ~ India REPUBLIC ND(2000-02) Issue series (Pick#93-94) set, which leads the Reserve Bank of India, 2000-2002 ND Issue Set, Complete, P93-P94 set type.

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