100 Rupees Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Issued the year of Vajpayee's death, this commemorative was authorized as part of India's ongoing series honoring former heads of government — a program that has produced dozens of issues since the 1960s. Vajpayee served three separate terms as Prime Minister, the last from 1999 to 2004, during which India conducted the Pokhran-II nuclear tests just one year in.

The .500 fineness is characteristic of Reserve Bank commemoratives from this period, chosen to keep production costs manageable across large authorized mintages.