India 8 pc Set 1 5 10 20 50 100 Rupees UNC & 500 1000 Rupees VF (Very Fine)

Eight banknotes. One country. Twenty-four years of Indian monetary history in a single set. From the crisp 1 Rupee note of 2017 to the demonetized 1000 Rupee giant of 2016, this collection spans the full arc of modern India's paper currency — ancient temple chariots, Gandhi's face on nearly every note, a dramatic midnight demonetization, and a low serial number bonus. Six notes are Uncirculated; the two demonetized notes (500 and 1000 Rupees) are Very Fine, pulled from circulation before the 2016 ban. 

What's in the Set

• P-117c — 1 Rupee 2017 UNC — Coin motif reverse; signed by Finance Secretary
• P-94A — 5 Rupees 2009–2011 UNC — Date on back, no ₹ symbol
• P-109 — 10 Rupees 2024 UNC — Sun Temple Chariot with Sundial Wheels
• P-110 — 20 Rupees 2022 UNC — Ellora Caves
• P-111e — 50 Rupees 2018 UNC — Hampi Stone Chariot
• P-112 — 100 Rupees 2022 UNC — Low serial number (7RA0000xx)
• P-93/P-99/P-106 — 500 Rupees 2000–2016 VF — Gandhi & Dandi March; Demonetized 2016
• P-94/P-100/P-107 — 1000 Rupees 2000–2016 VF — Gandhi; Demonetized 2016

The 500 and 1000 Rupee notes may be any variety within their respective Pick ranges. The 100 Rupee note will have a low serial number in the 7RA0000xx block.

The Notes, One by One

P-117c — 1 Rupee (2017) UNC

The 1 Rupee note is the odd one out — and the most historically peculiar note in Indian currency. Unlike every other denomination, the 1 Rupee note is not issued by the Reserve Bank of India. It is issued directly by the Government of India and signed by the Finance Secretary, not the RBI Governor. This distinction dates back to colonial-era monetary law and has never been changed. The reverse features a coin motif — a nod to the note's origins as a substitute for the 1 Rupee coin during wartime metal shortages. The P-117c variety was issued in 2017, the year after the great demonetization, when India was rebuilding its cash economy from scratch.

P-94A — 5 Rupees (2009–2011) UNC

The 5 Rupee note features the tractor on the reverse — a nod to India's agricultural backbone, where over half the population still depends on farming. This series introduced a date on the reverse but predates the ₹ symbol, making it a transitional issue. In a country of 1.44 billion people, even a 5 Rupee note tells a story about who India is feeding.

P-109 — 10 Rupees (2024) UNC

The newest note in the set — issued in 2024 as part of India's Mahatma Gandhi New Series. The reverse features the Sun Temple Chariot of Konark, one of the most extraordinary architectural achievements of the medieval world. Built in the 13th century in Odisha, the temple is designed as a colossal chariot for the sun god Surya, with 24 elaborately carved stone wheels that function as precise sundials — accurate to the minute. The wheels on this note are not decoration; they are working clocks carved in stone, 700 years before the modern wristwatch.

P-110 — 20 Rupees (2022) UNC

The 20 Rupee note features the Ellora Caves on the reverse — a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Maharashtra comprising 34 monasteries and temples carved directly into a basalt cliff face between the 6th and 11th centuries. Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain monuments sit side by side, making Ellora one of the most remarkable examples of religious coexistence in the ancient world. The caves were not built — they were excavated, one chisel stroke at a time, from solid rock.

P-111e — 50 Rupees (2018) UNC — Hampi Stone Chariot

The 50 Rupee note carries one of the most visually striking reverses in Indian currency: the Stone Chariot of Hampi, a 16th-century granite shrine in the form of a chariot with stone wheels, in the ruins of Vijayanagara — once one of the largest cities on Earth, with a population estimated at 500,000 at its peak. In 1565, the city was sacked and burned after the Battle of Talikota. It was never rebuilt. Today Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This note is the “e” plate variety.

P-112 — 100 Rupees (2022) UNC — Low Serial Number

The 100 Rupee note in this set carries a low serial number in the 7RA0000xx block — a genuine collector's piece within a collector's set. The reverse features Rani ki Vav (the Queen's Stepwell) in Patan, Gujarat — a UNESCO World Heritage Site built in the 11th century as a memorial to King Bhimdev I. Rani ki Vav has over 500 principal sculptures and more than 1,000 minor ones lining its walls. Low serial numbers in the 0000xx range are actively sought by collectors worldwide.

P-93/P-99/P-106 — 500 Rupees (2000–2016) VF — Gandhi & Dandi March

The 500 Rupee note is the emotional heart of this set. The reverse depicts the Dandi March of 1930 — Gandhi and his followers walking 240 miles to the sea to pick up a handful of salt and defy British law. On 8 November 2016, this note was declared worthless by midnight decree. 86% of India's currency by value vanished overnight. The note you receive may be P-93 (no date, no ₹), P-99 (date, no ₹), or P-106 (date, with ₹). All are demonetized. All are history.

P-94/P-100/P-107 — 1000 Rupees (2000–2016) VF — Gandhi

The 1000 Rupee note was India's highest denomination before demonetization — and it was never reissued. The reverse shows India's economic ambitions in five panels: wheat, a computer, a satellite, a factory, and an oil rig. Printed during the exact years India's GDP grew from $500 billion to $2.3 trillion, then killed overnight. The note may be P-94 (no date), P-100 (date, no ₹), or P-107 (date, with ₹ — the final issue, signed by Raghuram Rajan, the economist who predicted the 2008 financial crisis). The 1000 Rupee denomination was quietly retired. This is the end of a lineage.

About India

• Origin of name: From the Indus River (Sanskrit: Sindhu), via Persian Hindu and Greek Indos
  • Origin of name of New Delhi: "Delhi" likely from Hindi dhili (loose) or Raja Dhilu (50 BC); "New" added when the British built the planned capital in 1911
• Capital: New Delhi — city pop. ~250,000; metro pop. ~33 million (NCT of Delhi)
• Population: ~1.44 billion (UN 2024) — roughly 4× the United States
• Area: 3,287,263 km² (1,269,219 mi²) — slightly larger than Argentina; about one-third the size of the United States
• GDP per capita (PPP): ~$10,100 (IMF 2024)
• Main exports: petroleum products, gems and jewelry, pharmaceuticals, machinery, textiles, rice
• Borders: Pakistan (west), China and Nepal (north), Bhutan (northeast), Bangladesh and Myanmar (east)
• Ethnicities: Indo-Aryan (~72%), Dravidian (~25%), Austroasiatic and others (~3%)
• Memberships: United Nations (founding member, 1945); Commonwealth of Nations (1947); Non-Aligned Movement (founding member, 1961); G20; BRICS; WTO; SAARC (founding member)
• Sovereignty: Mughal Empire (1526–1857); British East India Company (1757–1858); British Raj (1858–1947); Independence: 15 August 1947; Republic: 26 January 1950

India Unfiltered

• India has the world's largest democracy — 960 million+ voters in the 2024 general election.
• Zero was invented here — formalized by Brahmagupta in 628 AD.
• India has more languages than Europe — 19,500 distinct mother tongues in the 2011 census.
• The Kumbh Mela is the largest human gathering on Earth — up to 50 million people in a single day, visible from space.
• India became the fourth country to land on the Moon — Chandrayaan-3, lunar south pole, 23 August 2023.
• The 1000 Rupee note in this set was never replaced. It is the end of a denomination.
• Every RBI note in this set features Mahatma Gandhi — a man who held no political office, owned almost nothing, and changed the world.

Own eight pieces of India — ancient stone chariots, a midnight demonetization, a low serial number, and the face of the man who walked to the sea. This is not just a currency set. It is a portrait of a civilization.