India Government Mint, Hyderabad is one of the four

mints A mint or breath mint is a food item often consumed as an after-meal refreshment or before business and social engagements to improve breath odor. Mints are commonly believed to soothe the stomach, given their association with natural byproducts ...

in India. Based in Cherlapally,

Secunderabad Secunderabad () is a twin cities, twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Telangana. It is the headquarters of the South ...

( twin city of

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

) in the Indian state of

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

, the mint was originally established in 1803 AD as the ''Royal Mint'' to serve as the mint for the

Nizam of Hyderabad Nizam of Hyderabad was the title of the ruler of Hyderabad State ( part of the Indian state of Telangana, and the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka). ''Nizam'' is a shortened form of (; ), and was the title bestowed upon Asaf Jah I wh ...

. The mint was founded by Mir Akbar Ali Khan Sikander Jah, Asaf Jah III and was originally situated at Sultan Sahi in Moghalpura suburb of

city. In 1950, the mint was taken over by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

, and in 1997 it was shifted to its present location at Cherlapally in

. Indian 1, 2, 5 and 10 rupee coins are produced in this mint.

History

Till early 19th century, mints were privately operated by wealthy businessmen ( Sahus, Jagirdars and Omaras) in India. Licenses for minting coins were obtained by paying fees to the

exchequer In the Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil service of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's Exchequer, or just the Exchequer, is the accounting process of central government and the government's ''Transaction account, current account'' (i.e., mon ...

. The mints used to produce coins with the name of Emperor in Delhi. ''FIDVI'', ''QITAAB'' (title) and lettering "Yar-E-Wafadar" (trusted follower) were added to the coins.

1803–1858

India Government Mint, Hyderabad was established in 1803 AD by Mir Akbar Ali Khan Sikander Jah, Asaf Jah III as a private mint and along with other private mints in the country. The mint produced Indian coins in the name of

Emperor of India Emperor (or Empress) of India was a title used by British monarchs from 1 May 1876 (with the Royal Titles Act 1876) to 22 June 1948 Royal Proclamation of 22 June 1948, made in accordance with thIndian Independence Act 1947, 10 & 11 GEO. 6. CH ...

. Initially the mint was situated at Sultan Sahi in Moghalpura suburb of the Hyderabad city. The dies were made of steel but the private mints did not have a master die. The dies hence differed in size, production of coins was crude with only partial inscription appearing on coins frequently.

1858–1903

With the end of the Mughal empire in 1858 AD, all private mints (except Hyderabad,

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

and

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

) were abolished. Coins produced thereafter ceased to carry the name of ''Emperor of India''. Instead, coins produced in the ''Hyderabad Royal Mint'' were inscribed with name of the dynasty, initials of

and the numeral 92 (of

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

religious significance; represents sum of symbolic numbers of the letters in

Prophets and messengers in Islam Prophets in Islam () are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God in Islam, God's message on Earth and serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets are categorized as messengers (; sing. , ), those who transmit Revelatio ...

). These coins were called ''Halli Sicca'' coins (current coins). In 1985 AD, use of machinery was introduced in coin making and the machine made coins were called "Charkhi coins" (Charkhi means "wheel" in Hindi).

1903–1950

On 13 July 1903, a new mint was established in Saifabad, Hyderabad and the operations were shifted to the new location. In 1950, post "Federal Financial Integration", the mint was over-taken by the

1950–1997

The Hyderabad mint operated in Saifabad from 1950 to 1997. On 20 August 1997, the mint was shifted to its present location at Cherlapally in the city of Secunderabad, India. The facility was established with annual production capacity of 700 million coins and 950 million planchets.

1997 – present

India Government Mint in Hyderabad has been operating at the same location since 1997. As a result of the corporatisation, from 13 January 2006 the mint is functioning as one of the units of the Security Printing & Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL).

Organization

Since 13 January 2006, the India Government Mint, Hyderabad functions as one of the units of the "Security Printing & Minting Corporation of India Limited". The mint is headed by a "general manager".

Mint mark

Coins minted at the India Government Mint, Hyderabad carries the

mint mark A mint mark is a letter, symbol or an inscription on a coin indicating the mint where the coin was produced. It is distinct from a mintmaster mark, the mark of the mintmaster. History Mint marks were first developed to locate a problem. If a co ...

of a ''five-pointed star'' (*), symbolising that the coin was produced in the Hyderabad mint.

Production

The India Government Mint in Hyderabad was planned with an estimated annual production capacity of annual production capacity of 700 million coins and 950 million planchets.

Indian rupee The Indian rupee (symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 '' paise'' (Hindi plural; singular: ''paisa''). The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India. The Reserve ...

coins (1, 2, 5 & 10) are produced in this mint.

References

{{Indian currency 1803 establishments in India Mints of India Numismatics Organisations based in Telangana