₹2 — Two Rupees
The artwork
Front: No portrait at all: this is a note of the older pattern, with the Lion Capital of Ashoka framed at the right and the Reserve Bank's seal, palm and tiger, in the upper corner. The centre carries a big ornamental 2 set in a sunburst of engine-turned lines, with the issuer's name in Hindi and English above, the guarantee of the Central Government, the promise clause, and the language panel to the left. "दो रुपये" runs along the foot beside the serial, prefix 44Q.
Back: The whole reason to keep this one: the Aryabhata satellite, India's first, a faceted polyhedron with solar panels and stubby aerials, drifting over a stippled blue Earth against a starred sky. Heavy foliate borders in maroon close both ends, with a 2 in a cartouche at the left and another at the right, and TWO RUPEES spelled out along the bottom panel.
In circulation
Issued from 1976, the design marking the launch of Aryabhata the previous year, and current through the 1980s and into the 1990s alongside later two-rupee note designs. The denomination was then given over entirely to the two-rupee coin, and the notes were withdrawn from circulation.
Details
- IssuerReserve Bank of India — भारतीय रिज़र्व बैंक — guaranteed by the Central Government
- CurrencyRupee (₹)
- DenominationTwo Rupees
- Collectedon the India journeys, 1992–2018
- SeriesAryabhata satellite reverse, introduced 1976
- SignatureGovernor, Reserve Bank of India
- WatermarkLion Capital of Ashoka, in the blank oval panel at the left of the face
- DimensionsApproximately 107 × 63 mm