ROURKELA: AMID the rush for exchange of `500 and `1,000 curencies at banks and post offices, counterfeit coins of `10 have found their way into the market in Rourkela city.
The coins are in massive circulation in the Steel city, mounting the woes of people who are already waiting in long queues for low value currencies. Bankers said the city is facing acute shortage of `100 notes in the wake of ATMs only dispensing `100 denomination currencies and the panicked public are saving the currency for future use.
As a result currencies in the denomination of `50, `20, `10 and `5 are in high demand for daily use. An electrician Anil Prasad said, a customer offered to pay him two `10 coins, but he found the coins unusual and a comparison with the original coin confirmed those to be counterfeit. Ishwar Barik, a tea vendor, said he started receiving such coins since November 9 but felt there is nothing to panic as a closer look can help easily detect the fake ones.
In the original version, the four lions on Ashok Pillar are engraved in the inner circle while the left obverse carries Bharat in Hindi and on right obverse India is embossed in English and on the outer circle the year of printing is written below the Ashok Pillar. On the reverse, the inner circle holds the rupee symbol and the numeral 10 runs across two rings while atop the rupee symbol 10 strips are there on the outer ring. But, in the fake coin Bharat in Hindi and India in English are embossed on the outer ring atop the Ashok Stambh with the printing year 2008 is embossed below the Ashok Stambh on the outer ring.
On the reverse side of the fake coin the inner circle carries numeral 10 with the rupee symbol completely missing and below the numeral ‘Rupaye’ in Hindi and Rupees in English are written on the outer circle. Moreover, the upper portion of the outer ring carries 15 strips. Bhubaneswar-based DGM of RBI Sourav Nath neither confirmed nor denied circulation of fake `10 coins and added it remains a matter of verification. He, however, claimed that minting of fake `10 coin is not economically feasible.