A viral graphic (here, here, and here) featuring the One and Two rupee Indian coins is doing the rounds on social media. It states that, while other countries put important people and monuments on their coins, India inscribes figures of hands showing the numbers. We fact-check this claim through this article.

Claim: Indian One rupee and Two rupee coins feature hand symbols displaying the value of the coin while other countries inscribe figures of important people and monuments
Fact: The hand symbols inscribed on the One and Two rupee coins seen in the viral graphic are ‘Nritya Mudras,’ which are hand gestures from the Indian traditional dance forms like Kuchipudi, Bharathanatyam, Kathak, etc. These coins were rolled out by the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) in 2007 under the theme of ‘Nritya Mudras.’ Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
Contrary to the viral claim, Indian currency coins do have monuments of historical importance. The National Emblem of India, the Lion Capital of the Ashok Pillar, inscribed on the Indian coins, has a historical significance for our country.

On the official website of the Reserve Bank of India, we found that (here and here) most of the coins minted post-independence contain this Emblem on one side. Additionally, a fifty paise coin introduced in 1988 contains the inscription of the Indian Parliament building (old one), which is an important monument of our country.

Based on this evidence, it is clear that India does produce currency coins that contain symbols of national importance. Now coming to the hand symbols seen in the viral graphic, we found that these coins were released in 2007 as part of a new series known as ‘Nritya Mudra.’ Coins of the denominations 50 paise, One Rupee, and Two Rupees were released under this series. RBI states that “The gestures used on the 50 paise was “Clenched Fist”, on Re. 1/- “Thumbs Up” and on Rs. 2/- was “Two Fingers.”

We also found this series was listed in the list of ‘Different Designs of Rupee 1/- Coins issued in Circulation by Governmnet of India till date,’ released by the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited(SPMCIL). The 2007-2008 annual report produced by the Ministry of Finance also mentioned this new series of coins released in 2007 under the ‘Nritya Mudra’ theme.

A keyword search on the internet revealed (here, here, and here) that the Nritya Mudras are part of various poses made in the Indian classical dance forms like Bharathanatyam, Kuchipudu, Kathak, etc. Some of these mudras are known as ‘Hasta Mudras’ (here and here), which are hand gestures (poses or gestures) made during a dance performance to visually communicate “specific ideas, events, actions, or creatures.”

A few news reports from 2007 also reported that the RBI was going to circulate the coins with the ‘Nritya Mudra’ theme. OneIndia reported that the mudras inscribed on these coins are from Bharathanatyam.

Apart from these, India also issues special commemorative coins on special occasions, some of which contain the portraits of prominent people in the country. You can see such coins on the official website of the ‘Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited.’ You can find a few such coins here, here and here.

To sum up, the symbols seen on the Indian coins in this viral graphic are ‘Hasta Mudras’ from Indian classical dance forms.