Indian coin set circa 1950s

1 rupee, 1954

Half anna, 1950

One anna , 1950

2 anna, 1950

1/4 rupee, 1955

Written at top: char ana meaning four annas

1/2 rupee, 1955

1 rupee, 1950

When India became a republic in 1950, the anna series was adopted for coinage purposes. 1 rupee consisted of 16 annas. As you can see clearly in this series, the denomination keeps on decreasing by a factor of two: one rupee, half rupee, quarter rupee(4 annas), two annas, one anna and half anna. All the fractions were consistently minted , with the one anna and two anna coins of 1955 coming under the category of low mintage coins; and are therefore rare and also having very high value. This design of one rupee was minted only in 1950 and1954, and that too only in the Bombay mint. After that one rupee coin came out only in 1962. The anna series was discontinued in 1955 and it was replaced by the naya paisa series in 1957. The designers had experimented with a one rupee coin reading "sau naye paise" meaning 100 new paise in 1960. Only 3 such pieces are known to have been minted and 1 such coin recently sold at an auction for 2.2 lakh rupees.

Indian 25 paise : commemorative

25 paise: world food day

25 paise: forestry for development

The reverse reads vikas ke liye vaniki at the top in Hindi, which means forestry for development. This one is a particularly hard to find small commemorative coin. Its like 1 coin in a lot 400-500 25 paise coins, maybe even lesser. I like this coin the most in Indian commemoratives.

25 paise: rural women's advancement

The rural women's advancement 25 paise coin is supposed to be common and very easy to find as the Krause catalog states its total mintage to be around 34 million, which is way higher than even asian games 25 paise coin which had a mintage of about 24 million and is very easily found; but I have been able to find just 2 pieces of this item, that too in XF condition. This one I got from a lot of large number of 25 paise coins a coin seller had. The star below the date shows that this this coin was minted in the Hyderabad mint.

See also: Rural women's advancement proof set

25 paise : Asian games

The 9th Asian Games were held from November 19, 1982 to December 4, 1982 in Delhi, India. This was the second time the Games were held in Delhi as it was also host to the inaugural 1951 Asian Games. New Delhi joined Bangkok (four times) as the only cities to host multiple editions of the Asian Games.

The Delhi Asian Games was the first Asiad to be held under the aegis of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). The Asian Games Federation, under whose jurisdiction the first eight Asian Games had been held, dissolved to make way for the OCA.

A total number of 4,595 athletes, coming from 33 countries, competed in this Asiad. Debut sports were equestrian, golf, handball, rowing, and Women's field hockey.

These Asian Games also saw the beginning of Chinese dominance in the medals tally. Japan had won the most number of medals in previous editions of the Games. China made its presence felt in the sporting world by dethroning Japan as the top gold medalists.

In preparation for the IX Asian Games, colour television was introduced in India in a big way, as the Games were to be broadcast in colour.

The mascot for the Games was Appu – a kid elephant. Known in real life as "Kuttinarayanan", this elephant fractured its leg in an accident when he was seven years old – he stepped into a septic tank. That wound would not heal and it eventually killed him. Kuttinarayanan died on May 14, 2005.

Host of the next (10th) Asiad in 1986, and the 24th Summer Olympics in 1988, South Korea participated in the New Delhi Asiad with a 406-person delegation, including an observation team to study the facilities, management and events.

See also: Asian games proof set

Indian 25 paise

25 paise 1984

25 paise, 1985

Metal: copper-nickel

25 paise, 1998

The reverse shows the Indian one-horned rhinoceros, once found in large numbers but now reduced to only a few thousand because of poaching for its horn, which has its uses as a medicine.

Destruction of their habitat over the years, has brought the rhinos to the brink of extinction. These animals are among the worlds' most endangered species. The great one-horned rhino could once be found from Pakistan all the way through India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar. By the turn of the century, this species had vanished from much of its range, and today only about 2500 survive in India and Nepal. Throughout their range, their habitat continues to dwindle fast due to conversion of grassland habitats into agricultural fields and other human pressures. The threat of poaching continues to be ever-present.

25 paise, 1963

Metal: nickel

Diameter: 19mm
Reverse: "rupaye ka chautha bhag" meaning fourth part of a rupee; and 25 'naye paise' meaning new paise
Obverse: lion capital from Ashoka pillar