Rs 1000 silver coins issued to commemorate Brihadeeswara temple

A 1,000-rupee silver commemorative coin issued by the Government of India recently to commemorate 1,000 years of the Brihadeeswara temple in Thanjavur has been collected by the noted numismatist of the city D. Satyabuddu.As per RBI Coins can be issued up to the denomination of Rs.1000 as per the Coinage Act, 1906.

The Brihadeeswara temple had celebrated 1,000 years of its existence in 2010 and a Rs.5 commemorative coin was released by the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. This is the first time in the history of India that the Mumbai Mint has issued Rs.1,000 silver coin to commemorate the 1,000 years of Brihadeeswara temple, according to Mr. Satyabuddu.

The coin, weighing 35 gm, has 80 per cent silver and 20 per cent copper. On the obverse side, the coin bears the emblem of the Lion Pillar with the words ‘Satyameva Jayate’ in Hindi below it.

The name of the country and denomination are spelt out in Hindi and English. On the reverse side, Raja Raja Chola-1 figure in a standing posture with folded hands with a figure of the temple and the words depicting the 1,000 years of the temple written in Hindi and English and the place and the year (2010) can be seen. The Rs.1,000 coin is the prized collection in the kitty of Mr. Satyabuddu. He already has Re.1, Rs.2, Rs.5, Rs10, Rs.20, Rs.50, Rs.75, Rs.100 and Rs.150 coins.

The Government of India has the sole right to mint coins. The responsibility for coinage vests with the Government of India in terms of the Coinage Act, 1906 as amended from time to time. The designing and minting of coins in various denominations is also the responsibility of the Government of India. Coins are minted at the four India Government Mints at Mumbai, Alipore(Kolkata), Saifabad(Hyderabad), Cherlapally (Hyderabad) and NOIDA (UP).