10 Rupees

Pick 40 spans a politically charged window: the 1962 Sino-Indian War and the subsequent defense spending strain, then the 1965 war with Pakistan, all of which pushed the Indian government to rely increasingly on deficit financing. The RBI was under real pressure to expand currency supply while maintaining public confidence in the rupee — not a comfortable position.

The series introduced the "Hindi belt" numbering panel, a small but deliberate shift toward Devanagari script prominence that reflected post-independence language politics as much as any design preference. Notes from the early part of the range tend to show heavier circulation wear; the 1965–67 issues are considerably harder to find in clean used condition.