Sunday, December 31, 2006

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, and may it be a successful, prosperous one.

I am just finding out how to get the blog spidered. I have done Yahoo and Technorati. I feel I have started something going now- something new for me, and a little outside what I have been used to doing. We will see where this goes.

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Gandhi and Indian Money, continued

History

Gandhi was born on Oct 2, 1869, in Purbander, on the western coast of India. His family was not wealthy, although his ancestors were politically prominent. (Some sources say his father was a governor of the city, others say it was his grandfather.) He was a poor student, but he persevered, recognizing the importance of education to everyone. He was married at 13. He graduated from high school, and went to England to study law. He became a barrister in England, in 1891. He then returned to India, but found that he was unable to argue in court. He traveled to South Africa in 1893, to represent the commercial interests of a Muslim-owned trading firm.
Immediately, Gandhi was confronted by racial inequality. He and his baggage were thrown off a train, because he had purchased first-class ticket, and he refused to sit in third class. The incident upset him enough that he was able to deliver his first speech. After he was finished the law case, he was persuaded to stay behind to try to help the Indians living in South Africa become able to vote. At about this time, he started to reduce his wants and his expenses, aiming for a simpler life.
During the Boer War (1899-1902), Gandhi organized the Indian Ambulance Service. At this point in his life he still believed in patriotism and supporting the “mother country”. His non-violent way of support was the Ambulance Service, whose members showed extreme bravery, being mentioned in dispatches. It was his first experience with Indians of all castes and religions working together for a common cause. It was also an example of his feeling that rights and obligations went together, that you could not have one without the other. During the Zulu uprising of 1906, he again organized an Indian Ambulance service. The service aided the injured Zulus, whom the British would not touch, as well as the injured British.
He founded his first two ashrams, Phoenix and Tolstoy, where the residents did all their own work, and lived in extreme simplicity. Gandhi learned to make sandals. At this time, he also developed the concept of Satyagraha, of holding fast to the truth, or keeping strong in a righteous cause. That cause was the passage in 1907 if the Black Act, which required all Indians to register and get fingerprinted. He was arrested twice under the act, and eventually met with Jan Smuts, the Prime Minister of South Africa, to try and arrange a compromise. Gandhi eventually registered, but the act was not repealed as Smuts had promised. Gandhi was then attacked and beaten, for betraying his cause, but he forgave his attackers who had been arrested.
In the next two years, Gandhi was arrested twice more, and given sentences of hard labour. In 1911 he again met with the government, after they had passed a law making all Indian marriages invalid, and making wives the equivalent of concubines. He worked with Indian women, who persuaded the Indian coal miners to strike. He was arrested, but 50,000 coal miners were on strike, and several thousand in jail. Eventually, the government yielded.
Successful, Gandhi and his family returned to India, where he went on his first walkabout, taking about a year to see the changes that had occurred since he left India so many years earlier. In 1917 he was working with the indigo farmers, and he tried to raise hygienic standards, starting with those at schools. He then got involved in a dispute between textile workers and mill owners. Finally, in an attempt to solve this dispute, he announced that he would fast until a settlement was achieved. His fast kept the dispute non-violent, and a settlement was reached 3 days later.
In Gujurat, Gandhi organized a tax revolt, to help poor peasants who were being taxed more than they could afford. After 4 months with no tax income, payment remission was granted.
Then came the crucible of his career, the incident that solidified his thoughts and beliefs. The passage of the Rowatt bill led Gandhi to call a hartal, a national protest, when shops and businesses were closed. He was arrested. The arrest led to the Amritsar massacre, martial law, arrests, and floggings. He spoke at a Muslim conference, where for the first time he called for non-cooperation with Britain. He had now found an issue which would appeal to all India. He called for the unity of Hindus and Muslims, the removal of untouchability, equality for women, the popularization of hand spinning, and reconstruction of the village-based economy.
Gandhi got involved in a protest in aid of a poor man that was not allowed to mine salt. He decided to go on a 281 mile walk across India. Again, he was arrested, after focusing the attention of the world on this inequality. He was sent to prison for 6 years, but was released after 2 years, as he had a serious attack of appendicitis.
He immediately got deeply involved in the drive for Independence from Britain. Gandhi favoured one India, composed of both Hindus and Muslims. However, the British favoured the separation of the different religions, and this led to bloodshed, rapings, and murders. He went to different areas across India which had seen the worst incidents, and his presence was able to cool down the situation, at least temporarily. Unfortunately, he could not be everywhere, all the time, and India went through some of the worst times it had seen for almost a hundred years.
We know that India and Pakistan were separated, and the bad blood from this separation continues today, sixty years later. This Gandhi was not able to change, although he tried. He would walk into the areas of the worst murders and atrocities, accompanied only by his secretary. He would call the community leaders together, and arrange a compromise that would calm the confrontations. Areas of rapings and shootings would remain calm, and he would go on to the next one. Any of those visits could have been fatal, but his presence was such a moral force, that it did not happen.
It is ironic, that, after India became independent, Gandhi survived a bomb attempt, and then 10 days later he was shot by a Hindu fanatic. He had a regular audience, and this time he was late, but he went on to it. He was shot by a pistol, at point-blank range, and did not survive.
Mahatma Gandhi is known by his ideas- simplicity, equality, rights with responsibilities, non violence, compromise when possible, always standing up for the right thing. Peaceful non-violent protest has been used all over the world. He wanted to improve the life of everyone, and believed in education and hygiene.

The Coins and Paper Money Issues Featuring Gandhi

India issued a series of coins and paper money commemorating his life in 1969 and 1970. The coins include the 20 Paisa, made of nickel-brass, the 50 Paisa and 1 Rupee, made of nickel and the 10 Rupee, made of 0.800 fine silver. The bills include the 1, 2, 5, 10, and 100 Rupees. The coins show a simple head of Gandhi, and the Asoka pillar. The paper money has 2 different designs. All Indian 1 Rupee paper money issued after 1957 shows a picture of the 1 Rupee coin with a date. In 1969, the regular design of the 1 Rupee coin was not used, and instead the special 1 Rupee commemorative coin, which is undated, is pictured on each side. The higher value bills show Gandhi seated, reading a book, which puts the focus of the design on education. The face of the higher values shows the regular designs. There are 3 signature varieties, with I.G. Patel on the 1 Rupee bills, and either L. K. Jha or B.N. Ardarkar on the 2, 5, 10, and 100 Rupees. The colours are restrained, and emphasize the peacefulness of Gandhi. .
A set of this historic Gandhi issue, with 1 Rupee, 5 Rupees, and 10 Rupees in paper money, is available from the ebay shop of coinsnpaper, operated by the author, David Larson. The web site address is http://stores/ebay.ca/coinsnpaper?refid=store. The cost is $24.95, plus 4.95/5.95/6.95 for secure Canadian/American/ World shipping and handling. The bills are almost uncirculated (AU) or better, with a possible corner counting fold away from perfection. They will have staple holes, because almost all Indian paper money was stapled in bundles whenever it is counted.
The current issue of paper money of India has denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1000 Rupees. The front has a similar design for all denominations. All have a benevolent-looking bust of Gandhi at the right, and a clear watermarked area at the left. The back designs are all different. The 5 Rupees shows a farmer plowing with a tractor, the 10 Rupees shows an ornamented design featuring a tiger, elephant and rhinoceros heads, the 20 Rupees shows coconut trees, the 50 Rupees shows Parliament House, the 100 Rupees shows the Himalaya mountains, the 500 Rupees shows Gandhi leading a line of followers, and the 1000 Rupees shows different features of the modern Indian economy- farming, oil platforms, computers, satellites and technology, and industrial design. They put the focus on what India has created since the time of Gandhi, and are much more colourful than the restrained 1969 issues.
I am not offering the current bills now, but if you are interested in them, please let me know, and I will try to get them for you.
Coinsnpaper is a store that specializes in coins and paper money of countries around the world. The owner, David Larson, has done money displays and worked on the coin collections of various museums in North America. The money of Gandhi has long been a favourite of his, because he believes numismatics, the study of coins, tokens, and paper money, embraces history, economics, calligraphy, metallurgy, and culture. These coins and paper money issues highlight all of these areas.
This article may be reprinted and given away, but it must be reprinted exactly as it is written.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Mahatma Gandhi and Indian Paper Money







Introduction

Mahatma Gandhi was a patriot, a statesman (not just a politician), a rebuilder of his country, and a huge moral force. His teachings have been used around the world, from the United States, to the former Soviet Union, to South Africa.
In many ways, Gandhi was a contradiction. He was a poor student, yet he traveled to a foreign university, and graduated. Although he was a shy person, he became used to, and was able to use publicity, and to talk in public. He believed in compromise, but he was able to develop an iron will. He stood like a rock in the middle of many conflicts, forcing the correct decision, even at the risk of his own life.
Gandhi is known by his ideas- simplicity, equality, rights with responsibilities, non-violence, compromise when possible, but always standing up for the right conclusion. His ways of peaceful non-violent protest have been used all over the world. He wanted to improve the life of everyone, and believed in education and hygiene to help.

History will be written on the next page, as I think the pictures have pushed the text out of the page- (just guessing, as this is only my third posting on this blog)-
to be continued-