2015-12-08 Tue

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced new currency notes of India through its latest Mahatma Gandhi (MG) series in 1996 containing 10 and 500 Rs Indian banknotes. Since its introduction, this series has replaced all the other series of old notes in India. The current Mahatma Gandhi (MG) note series that are in circulation were introduced by the Reserve Bank of India in 2005. These new MG series notes were issued with added security features.

However Mahatma Gandhi was not always portrayed on the Indian rupee notes. The notes of India prior to 1996 had a variety of aspects about India, featured on them. A few of them being the Bengal tiger series, the Peacock series, the Aryabhatta satellite series, the Agricultural series, the Shamilar garden series etc.

The new series of republic India notes are called as MG series because the obverse of the note prominently displays a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi. The old notes of India prior to 1996 portrayed the Ashokan Pillar Capital that is the National emblem of India.

At present the RBI issues MG series banknotes in denominations from Rs 5 to 2000.