Indian 5 rupee coins- VIII

5 rupee: Saint Alphonsa

Alphonsa Mutthapadathu was born in 1910 in village Kudamaloor near Kottayam in Kerala. She had a difficult childhood plagued by poverty and illness. She fell into a pit of burning chaff and both here feet got deformed, leaving her handicapped. In 1936, she was miraculously cured by saint Therese of Lisieux. She taught at a school and there are a large number of miracles associated with her, many of which involved curing children having clubbed feet as she herself had been disabled by her feet for many years. In 1939 she had an attack of double-pnuemonia which left her weakened and she died in 1946 after a painful illness. In 1985, Pope John Paul II formally approved a miracle that was attributed to her and she received the title of Venerable Sister Alphonsa. One year later, she was beatified. On the 50 years of her death, a stamp was released as the first sign of national recognition to her. Pope Benedict XVI authorized her canonization in 2007 and the process was completed after an year, meaning that Alphonsa is now the first woman and only the second saint from India after Saint Gonsalo Garcia.

Apart from this 5 rupee coin, a stamp was also released to commemorate the canonization of Alphonsa. I have that stamp as well in my collection.

5 rupee: unity in diversity(cross coin)

This one is definitely one of the rarest coins of recent times. There have been many rare 5 rupee coins in the last couple of years and this one is definitely on top of the wish list of most collectors, and many beginners are not even aware of this one existing. Even I got to know of this only 3-4 months back. The reason: this is a controversial coin that was banned by the government of India following the controversy surrounding coins of 1 rupee and 2 rupee coins with similar symbols on them. As this was banned, it never came into circulation unlike the 2 rupee and the 1 rupee coins. The 1 rupee cross coin was also controversial and was withdrawn from circulation , but at least it did come into circulation. Even the dealers couldn't get hold of more than 1-2 packets of this one. And what they had was sold out in olympic record time. So , now its not even available anywhere and its price has already gone through the roof.

What is the controversy of this coin?
Unity in diversity 10 rupee coin

5 rupee: First war of independence(steel)

See also: First war of independence proof set