Obverse. Photo © NumisCorner.com
  • 50 Paise 1985, KM# 67, India, Republic, Assassination of Indira Gandhi
  • 50 Paise 1985, KM# 67, India, Republic, Assassination of Indira Gandhi
Description

Indira Gandhi, the 3rd Prime Minister of India, was assassinated at 9:20 a.m. on 31 October 1984, at her Safdarjung Road, New Delhi residence. She was killed by two of her bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star, the Indian Army's June 1984 assault on the Golden Temple in Amritsar which left the Sikh temple heavily damaged.

Obverse

Depicts the State Emblem of India with Satyameva Jayate below surrounded by the country name and value.

The State Emblem of India is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath, preserved in the Sarnath Museum near Varanasi, India. A representation of Lion Capital of Ashoka was officially adopted on 26 January 1950, the day that India became a republic.

The actual Sarnath capital features four Asiatic lions standing back to back, symbolizing power, courage, confidence and pride, mounted on a circular base. At the bottom is a horse and a bull, and at its centre is a wheel (Dharma Chakra). The abacus is girded with a frieze of sculptures in high relief of The Lion of the North, The Horse of the West, The Bull of the South and The Elephant of the East, separated by intervening wheels, over a lotus in full bloom, exemplifying the fountainhead of life and creative inspiration.

"Satyameva Jayate" (Sanskrit: सत्यमेव जयते satyam-eva jayate; lit. "Truth alone triumphs.") is a part of a mantra from the ancient Indian scripture Mundaka Upanishad. Following the independence of India, it was adopted as the national motto. It is inscribed in script at the base of the Lion Capital of Ashoka and forms an integral part of the national emblem. The emblem and the words "Satyameva Jayate" are inscribed on one side of all Indian currency.

भारत INDIA
सत्यमेव जयते
पैसे 50 PAISE

Reverse

Depicts a portrait of Indira Gandhi, date and mintmark (if any) below.

Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (née Nehru; 1917–1984) was an Indian politician and central figure of the Indian National Congress party, and to date the only female Prime Minister of India. Indira Gandhi was the daughter of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. She served as Prime Minister from 1966 to 1977 and then again from 1980 until her assassination in 1984, making her the second-longest-serving Prime Minister of India after her father.

इंदिरा गांधी
INDIRA GANDHI
1917-1984

Edge
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Circulating)
Material Cupronickel
Weight 5 g
Diameter 24 mm
Thickness 1.5 mm
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Alt # KM# 67.1, KM# 67.2
Mints
Calcutta Mint (no mintmark)
Hyderabad Mint (★)
Mumbai Mint (B)
Mumbai Mint (♦)

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