10 Rupees

P#38 marks the first series issued by the Reserve Bank of India after independence, replacing the identical George VI notes that preceded it. The transition was largely cosmetic at first — the same intaglio plates continued in use, with the royal portrait removed and the new sovereign identity substituted. India's paper currency infrastructure in this period still depended heavily on the Nashik Security Press, which had been printing notes under British administration and simply continued under the new government.

The series ran across nearly a decade, and dating individual notes within the 1949–1957 window requires reading the signature panel — six different RBI governors signed across the run, from C.D. Deshmukh through H.V.R. Iengar.