2017-04-26 Wed

Reserve Bank of India banknote, a 100 rupee Haj Pilgrim issue of 1950 of the serial number HA 078400 was sold for 44000 pounds (hammer price) at Spinks Auctions on 25th April 2017. The total cost of the note including the taxes was at 52800 pounds!

But do you know what these ‘Haj’ Pilgrim issues are?

To curtail smuggling of Indian rupee two special notes were introduced in 1959. “Gulf Rupee” was introduced in May 1959 to reduce the strain on India’s foreign reserve and to check the smuggling of the Indian rupee into the Persian Gulf. This step was taken by the Government of India and Reserve Bank of India to ensure the return of many notes from the Gulf States. However still, a great number of Indian rupees were repatriated from Saudi Arabia. These were the rupees taken by the Haj pilgrims each year to Saudi Arabia and exchanged for Saudi riyals. These Indian rupees could be repatriated to the RBI in Bombay and converted in pound sterling according to the arrangements in place with the banks in Saudi Arabia.

Further to ensure that no smuggled rupees could return from the Persian Gulf from the Saudi Arabian Banks, the Reserve Bank of India introduced two special “Haj Notes” along with the “Gulf rupee” in May 1959.

These special issue notes were for supplying to the Haj pilgrims proceeding on Haj to Saudi and were distinguishable by their colour and the word “Haj” printed on them. They were payable “at the office of Issue at Bombay” instead of payable “at any office of Issue”. They have the signature of H. V. R. Iyengar (Governor, Reserve Bank of India) and have a prefix “HA” followed by a six-digit number.

These notes are an attraction for collectors of both India and the Gulf States. This specimen sold on 25th April is an extremely rare and a wonderful example of these Haj Pilgrim issues of RBI.

(Image courtesy: Spinks Auctions)