Mint Marks in REPUBLIC INDIAN COIN

Each Indian coin has mint marks to identify the mint where the coin was made. In Indian coin mint marks usually can be found under the date. There are currently four mints in India, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Noida. Many foreign mints also minted Indian coins. The following Mint marks can be seen in Indian coins----

Indian Mints
Kolkata Mint: Kolkata mints has NO MINT MARKS. First established in 1757 and located near old fort ( now Kolkata GPO ) Kolkata mint ( then Calcutta ) relocate 2 times and finally constructed at Alipore in 1952 which is its current location
Mumbai Mint:Mumbai mint uses DIAMOND mint mark.Sometimes the mint mark is ELONGATED DIAMOND and sometimes ROUNDER almost looks like a DOT.On related note Mumbai mint used to use DOT mint marks prior to Independence. Mumbai mint also uses B(till 1995) and M(1995 onwards) mint marks on proof coins. Mumbai mint established in 1829 (then Bombay) though coin was minted from as early as 1672 in Mumbai Fort.
Hyderabad Mint: Currently Hyderabad mint uses FIVE POINTED STAR mint marks, but 1953-1960 it used VERTICALLY SPLITTED DIAMOND and 1960 - 1968 it used DOT INCUSED DIAMOND. Hyderabad Mint established by the Nizams of Hyderabad in 17th century. Indian Govt. taken over the mint in 1953 after annexation of Hyderabad into India.
Noida Mint: Noida mint uses DOT mint marks. The size of the dot varies coin to coin.  Noida mint is the only mint established after the independence of India. It was established in 1988 which makes it the newest mint of India.This mint also the first mint in India to produce FSS (Ferritic Stainless Steel) coins.

Foreign Mints

Royal Canadian Mint: Letter "C" under the year. 1985 25 paisa(Cu-Ni), 1988 10, 25 and 50 Paisa(FSS) are minted in Royal Canadian Mint. Established in 1908 Royal Canadian Mint has its HQ at Ottawa and two mints in Ottawa and Winnipeg. Indian coins are minted in Ottawa mint.

Birmingham Mint: Letter "H" beneath the last digit of the year. 1985 1 Rupee(Cu-Ni) are minted here. Originally Known as Heaton's Mint or Ralph Heaton & Sons, it situated in Birmingham, UK. It is a private mint work with British Royal mint and currently owned by a Indian company name Lord's Security Mint Limited.

Kremnica Mint: This mint uses mint mark M.K. INSIDE A CIRCLE. FSS 1 Rupee from 1998 to 2001 were minted here. Kremnica Mint is situated in Kremnica, Slovakia and established in 1328(Yes, almost 700 years ago).

British Royal Mint: This mint uses mint mark a DIAMOND BELOW THE FIRST DIGIT OF THE YEAR. 1985 Cu-Ni 1 Rupee coin were minted here.This mint also minted 1999 2 Rupees coin(Cu-Ni) with a mint mark looks like a TOWER or BRIDGE. This mint mark is popular as "TOWER MINT(Dominican Republic)" though it also minted in British Royal Mint. Actually Dominican Republic uses British Royal Mint for minting their coinage along with many other foreign mints. There is a Tower Mint in London which is a private mint which mainly make medals and occasionally make commemorative coins for British Royal Mint. Originally situated in Tower Hill, London this mint were found in the year 886. In 1980 it completely moved to Llantrisant, South Wales.

La Casa de Moneda de México (México Mint ): This mint uses mint mark a CIRCLE OVER "M". 1997 1 Rupee FSS coins are made here. Established in 1535 this mint is the oldest mint in Americas.

Moscow Mind: This mint uses ARTISTICALLY WRITTEN "MMD" as its mint mark.2000 2 Rupees(Cu-Ni) and 1999 - 2000 5 Rupees(Cu-Ni) are minted here. Established in 1942, Moscow mint is part of Goznak (Russian enterprise control the production of coins and banknotes). This mint was originally manufacture medals and start minting coin from late 70s.

South African Mint Company (Pty) Limited (SA MINT): This mint uses "M" IN A OVAL as its mint mark. FSS 1 Rupee 1998-1999 and Cu-Ni 2 Rupees 1998 was minted here. This mint known as Pretoria mint. The South African Mint Company (Pty) Limited (SA MINT) is the official mint of the Republic of South Africa with its headquarters in Centurion, Gauteng Province near Pretoria.

Seoul Mint: Uses FIVE POINTED STAR UNDER LAST DIGIT OF THE YEAR as its mint mark. Can be seen in 1997-1998 Cu-Ni 2 Rupees coin.

Taegu Mint: Uses FIVE POINTED STAR UNDER FIRST DIGIT OF THE YEAR as its mint mark. Can be seen in 1985 Cu-Ni 50 paisa coin.

Edge of Coins

The side of the coin is called the "Edge" of the coin. Various kind of patterns and shapes are placed around the edge to prevent counterfeiting of coins by making it difficult to copy. Followings are the different kinds of edge which can be found in coin :

Plain Edge	No markings of any kind in the edges.
Grooved Edge	A groove is place halfway across and all around the edge. It looks like to coin glued together.
Reeded Edge	Fine serration all around the edge. Comes in various depth of serration and sometimes serrations are inclined though in most cases serrations are fine and vertical. It also known as milled edge or filed edge.
Security Edge	Grooved edge coin when have design, serrations or letterings in the groove called the security edge.
Inscribed Edge	plain or reeded edge having lettering all around its rim called inscribed edge.
Indented Edge	Plain or reeded edge with notch or indents placed with uniform spacing called indented edge.
Interrupted Reeded Edge	Edge having alternate sections of palin and reeded edge called interrupted reeded edge. The number and length of the sections varies coin to coin.
Serrated Edge	Serrations in reeded edge if looks like 'V' shaped and the very deep, then it called the serrated edge. Mostly can be seen in ancient coins where serrations and made by hand using chisel.
Polygon	These are rather shape varieties rather than edge varieties but I include it in the edge varieties because its the edge which is 10 sided or scalloped. Mostly comes with plain edge but sometimes reeded edge also can be found.

Parts of a Coin

	Rim Mint Mark Edge
OBSERVE
	Field National Emblem (Device) Motto Denomination
REVERSE
	Relief (Device) Field Legend Year Rim

Follow the links to know more about each parts(links are not active yet)

My Coin Collection

As I said in my previous blog about Matchbox Collection that at some point of time I collect everything, from toffee wrapper to stamps. Coin collecting is one of the three hobbies (along with matchbox and stamp collecting) I still have and hopefully will have for rest of my life.

I started my coin collecting at around age of 10. I didn't knew most of the rules and had no resources so I only collect commemorative coins I got through circulation. At my college days  this hobby was buried with all other hobbies. It gain a renewed interest when I open a account in EBay in  2009 to buy some stamps.There I saw the vast number of coins and I realized that I know nothing about the world of coins.

After that I started collecting coin seriously and started to educate myself about numismatics.At that time I also realize that I have to focous on some subjetcs because I am not wealthy enough to collect all kinds of coin.So I focused on Republic India Coinage which I thought would be easyest to collect and will be the cheapest.But I was not entairly correct. Though I got many coins pretty easily, many coins prior to 1970 still eludes me. This is mostly because the rarity of good coin dealers in Kolkata and the expensive price tags in online stores.

I starting this blog...well I don't know why. Probably because seeing so many blogs about coin I also want to show off my collection though there is not much to show off . I hope this blog helps people someway.