The central government on Thursday announced that it will roll out Rs 20 coin for the first time in the country. The new coin has been given a dodecagon shape, which is a 12-sided polygon, with design of grains etched on it.
Other than Rs 20 coin, the government will also come out with a new series of Re 1, Rs 2, Rs 5 and Rs 10 coins.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday released the new series Rs 1, Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20 coins.
"These coins contain design features which will be of great assistance to visually impaired persons," finance minister Arun Jaitley said in a tweet. In 2015, the government had also released new currency notes which incorporated Braille-like signs for the benefit of visually impaired persons.
Though the exact date of issuance of the new coins is yet to be announced, sources in the finance ministry said that it may take up to about six months for the new coins to come into circulation.
Department of Economic Affairs secretary Subhash Chandra Garg said the new coins would be easily distinguishable from old coins.
Designed by the finance ministry, the coins will be produced under the Coinage Act at its four mints at Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Noida. However, the coins will be distributed or issued for circulation by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under the provisions of the RBI Act.
The Rs 20 coin will weigh 8.54 gm and its outside diameter will be 27 mm, with the outer ring made of nickel silver and the centre piece of nickel brass, a finance ministry notification said.
The face of the new Rs 20 coin and all other coins will bear the 'Lion Capitol of Ashoka Pillar' with 'Satyameva Jayate' inscribed below. The left periphery will have the word 'Bharat' in Hindi and the right periphery will have the word 'India' in English.
The reverse side of the Rs 20 coin would have the denominational value '20' in the international numerals along with the rupee symbol.
"The design of grains depicting the agricultural dominance of the country is flanked on the left periphery of the coin," the notification said.
The year of minting in international numerals shall be shown on centre of the left periphery of the coin, it added.
According to the notification the new Rs 10 coin will have an outside diameter of 27 mm and weigh 7.74 gm, while the Rs 5 coin will have a diameter of 25 mm and weight of 6.74 gm.
The new series Re 1 and Rs 2 coin will weigh 3.09 gm and 4.07 gm, while the diameter would be 20 mm and 23 mm, respectively.