Prime Minister Narender Modi has on 24.12.2018 released silver-alloy coin of face-value of rupees 100 in memory of late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. But the coin is not available for general public on face-value like were made available only on three occasions firstly in the year 1969 (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi), then in the year 1970 (Food For All) and finally in the year 1972 (Independence Jubilee) for rupees 10 each with 80-percent silver-content.
But practice of issuing silver-alloy coins on face-value was later discontinued because value of silver-content exceeded much more than the face-value presently about rupees 700 in a coin. Evidently silver-alloy coins cannot be practically issued on face-value like of rupees 100.
Union Finance Ministry, Reserve Bank of India RBI, Security Printing and Minting Company Limited SPMCIL should ensure raising face-value of silver-alloy coins much above the prevailing metal-value in the silver-alloy coins so that members of general public may also feel themselves associated with commemoration of occasion through issue of coin, and these coins should be available for general public right from date of issue from wide-spread distribution-points like select branches of private and public-sector banks, head post-offices and RBI offices.
Face-value of silver-alloy coins issued on any occasion can be kept presently at rupees 1000 like was done in the year 2010 by issuing commemorative coin to celebrate 1000thanniversary of Brihadeeswarar Temple at Thanjavur. Face-value can be raised in case silver-rice increases. It will be net revenue-earning for public-exchequer because such high-priced silver-alloy coins will never come in ordinary circulation. To prevent fake coins, such commemorative coins can be plastic-packed with serial-number on paper-sticker stuck on the plastic-pack.
SUBHASH CHANDRA AGRAWAL