What is the connection of cotton and currency?

Ever had a chance to touch and feel a fresh banknote that just come into circulation? What was it like? Crisp right? Did you know what our currency notes are made of Pure cotton Surprising isn’t it? Let’s find out more about the notes and where they are printed.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), headquartered in Mumbai, has the sole right to print and manage currency in India.

 Banknotes in circulation are often affected by heat, moisture, and other such factors. Considering that they are handled by millions of hands, a regular paper is not used for printing them. Though the banknote has the feel of paper, it is not the regular paper The paper currently being used for printing of banknotes in India is made of 100% cotton, according to the RBI site.

The cotton-based paper is coated with a special lacquer to repel dirt and moisture. Besides, banknotes are embedded with security features such as watermark, security thread, latent image of denomination numeral denomination numeral in colour shifting ink bleed lines, and see-through register. These are there mainly to deter counterfeiting.

The special paper required for printing of currency notes by the security presses in the country is manufactured at Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh, and Mysuru in Kamataka. While the Hoshangabad mill is under government control, the Mysuru mill is run by the RBI.

According to the site, "Bank notes are printed at four currency presses, two of which are owned by the Indian Government through its Corporation. Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd. and two are owned by the RBL through its subsidiary. Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Ltd." The currency presses of SPMCIL are at Nasik and Dewas and those of BRBNMPL are at Mysuru and Salboni.

Quick facts

  • Paper currency came into existence in India in 1861.
  • The one rupee note is the only currency note which is not signed by the Governor of RBI, but by the Finance Secretary to the Government of India.
  • Coins are minted in four mints owned by SPMCIL. The mints are located at Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and NOIDA. The coins are issued for circulation only through the RBI.

Picture Credit : Google