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50 Rupees Post Office National Savings Certificate
| Issuer | Government of India, Post Office Savings Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Cream paper certificate with an elaborate guilloche border enclosing the title "POST OFFICE NATIONAL SAVINGS CERTIFICATE" at top. Denomination "50 FIFTY RUPEES" appears in bold letterpress at left and right, flanking a central text block with the statutory contract wording. Urdu numerals in decorative panels occupy the left and right margins, with fields for Post Office, Date of Issue, Register No., and Postmaster signature at foot. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Plain cream reverse headed "1943 ISSUE" with a central panel titled "RECEIPT ON DISCHARGE" in bold letterpress. The left column tabulates the maturity values payable after 3 through 12 complete years against an investment of Rs. 50-0-0, with the notice "NOT ENCASHABLE TILL END OF THIRD YEAR" below. The right column provides fields for receipt of payment, date, and holder signature or thumb impression, with a post office date-stamp box at centre. |
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| Comments |
India's Post Office Savings Certificates were a wartime financing instrument, not conventional currency — the British colonial administration used them aggressively from the early 1940s to absorb surplus liquidity from a domestic economy overheating under war procurement spending. The 1943 issues coincided with the Bengal Famine, a period when the Reserve Bank of India was simultaneously expanding money supply to fund military expenditure, and the savings certificate program was one lever intended to pull cash back out of circulation.
These certificates were redeemable at face value through post offices rather than banks, making branch-level redemption records the primary surviving documentation of their use.