Catalog
10 Rupees Gulf Issue
| Issuer | Reserve Bank of India |
|---|---|
| Year | 1959 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Rupee (decimalized, 1957-date) |
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| Obverse description | The Ashoka Lion Capital pillar vignette is positioned to the right, set against a red-toned guilloche underprint. Serial numbers appear at lower left and lower right, with bilingual text in English and Hindi. The promise-to-pay clause references the Bombay office of issue. |
|---|---|
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
India's Gulf rupee was a parallel currency introduced in 1959 specifically to curb gold smuggling out of the Persian Gulf states, where Indian currency was widely accepted as a transactional medium. By issuing notes valid only outside India's mainland — in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the Trucial States — the Reserve Bank could control outflows without disrupting domestic circulation. The scheme worked moderately well until Kuwait broke away by issuing its own dinar in 1961, and collapsed entirely when the Gulf rupee was devalued in 1966.
The P#R3 series is relatively scarce today; the 1966 devaluation triggered rapid redemption, and many notes were surrendered or simply discarded.