Fact Check: Has Reserve Bank Of India Issued Rs 1,000 Coin?

Ever since the demonetisation on November 8, 2016, there has been a deluge of misinformation about new currency notes. Be it the ‘computer chip’ in the new Rs 2,000 note, or new coins of unique denominations, social media is flooded with false claims. Not a long back, there was a story doing rounds that the Narendra Modi government is planning to launch new currency notes to mark the anniversary of 2018’s note ban. Just like any other social media forward that ‘news’ also turned out to be fake. Now, another message has gone viral that the Reserve Bank of India has launched new Rs 1,000 coin.

FAKE ALERT!

News Nation also found a Facebook post claiming the launch of Rs 1,000 coin. ‘1000 rupees coin…recently launched by RBI …Pls Share to All!!!,’ the Facebook post by one Rupinder Singh said. So, what’s the reality? Has RBI issued the new Rs 1000 coin? Well, the answer is tricky.

REAL STORY

Point is that the Reserve Bank of India did issue a Rs 1,000 coin, however, it was of commemorative in nature and had no legal value. In 2015, the Central Bank had issued Rs 1000 coin to commemorate 1,000 years of the Brihadeeswara temple in Thanjavur. That can be a collector’s item, but can’t be used in market to purchase anything.

So, the claim by the social media post and other similar messages flooding your WhatsApp box is false. The RBI has not issued new Rs 1,000 currency coins.

STORY SO FAR

Previously, the Reserve Bank of India had issued coins of denominations Rs 10, Rs 5 and Rs 150 to commemorate various occasions such as the birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru and Motilal Nehru and centenary of Mahatma Gandhi’s return from South Africa.  

DEVIL LIES IN DETAIL

The RBI has listed out specific details about coins on its official website. “The Government of India has the sole right to mint coins. The responsibility for coinage vests with the Government of India in terms of the Coinage Act, 1906 as amended from time to time. The designing and minting of coins in various denominations is also the responsibility of the Government of India. Coins are minted at the four India Government Mints at Mumbai, Alipore(Kolkata), Saifabad(Hyderabad), Cherlapally (Hyderabad) and NOIDA (UP),” the RBI said on its official website.