Currency and travel
We buy when we use public transport to go from one place to another. This ticket costs money. The money that we pay to buy tickets is called currency. The Indian currency is called the Rupee. It consists of coin and banknotes.
Coins
Money made of metal is called coins. Coins are round and flat and have two sides. One side has its value and the year of minting marked on it. The other side has the national emblem. In some coins, its value and the national emblem are on the same side.
Nowadays, one rupee, two rupee and five rupee coins are issued by the government. These coins are called rupee coins.
Bank notes
Bank notes are made of special paper. We use 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1000 rupee notes. The two sides of a banknote are also different. Let us see what is printed on each side of a bank note.
Side-A
A picture of Mahatma Gandhi is printed on the right side. Mahatma Gandhi led India’s struggle for freedom against the British. He is popularly called `Bapu’ or ~Father of the nation’. There is white space on the left side. If you hold the note against light, you will see the face of Mahatma Gandhi printed on the white space. This is a watermark. Again, if hold a banknote of any value against light, you will see a straight line across the width of the note, a little away from the center. This line is the security thread. The watermark and security thread are imprinted to discourage the making of fake note.
To the bottom left corner is the national emblem of India. It has been taken from the Ashokan pillar at Saranath. It consists of four lions facing the four directions. Below the lions is the Ashoka Chakra with the pictures of lion, horse, bull and an elephant. Below the emblem are written the words `Stayamava Jayate’ which means ``Truth alone triumphs’. This is the motto of our country.
The serial number of the note appears at the top right and bottom left corners. The signature of the governor of the reserve bank of India appears at the bottom center of the note.
The value of the note appears in the centre and at the sides.
Side –B
A picture of national importance is printed at the center of the banknote, for example, the 50 rupee note has the picture of our parliament house and the 500 rupee note has the picture of Mahatma Gandhi going on the Dandi march. The 10 rupee note has the picture of a tiger, elephant and one-horned rhino. The value of the note is given in 15 Indian languages on the left side.
