What Are the Star Series Bills? How to Determine whether the Note Is Real

On Thursday, the Reserve Bank of India stated that its banknotes with a star symbol in the number panel are authentic after debates on social media over the legitimacy of these notes.

After some users on social media expressed concerns, RBI was forced to intervene and reassure them that these notes were authentic. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said, “It is informed that the Star (*) symbol is inserted in the number panel of a banknote used as a replacement for defectively printed banknotes in a packet of 100 pieces of serially numbered banknotes.”

 

The Star Marked Banknote: What Is It?

 

A note that has been reproduced to replace one that was printed incorrectly will have a star symbol (*) placed between the prefix and serial number. The note is identical to other legal banknotes, according to the RBI, with the exception of the star mark.

 

Up to August 2006, the RBI produced packs of 100 new bank notes that were serially numbered with the required unique serial number made up of letters and numbers.

 

The RBI announced releasing the Star series of bank notes on August 31 of the same year. These notes have the same appearance save from a star symbol on the number panel. The Star series banknotes will be legal currency, and members of the public may freely accept and use them, according to a press release from the RBI from 2006.

 

In order to retain the sequential numbering of the 100 pieces in the packet, the RBI up to that point issued a new note to replace each defectively printed banknote with the same number as the faulty note. However, the procedure required physical intervention and was expensive in both time and money.

 

In order to reduce costs and improve operating efficiency at the note printing press, RBI implemented the star series numbering scheme, which is in line with global best practices.

 

However, one should be aware of how to examine the banknotes for validity, specifically the distinctive identification.

 

How Can I Tell If A Banknote Is Real?

 

The security thread of a note should be checked as the primary identifier. On the front side of the note, the thread is windowed, while on the back, it is embedded. Both sides of it glow under UV light.

 

The image of Mahatma Gandhi, the guarantee and promise phrase, the RBI governor’s signature, the Ashoka pillar symbol, and the intaglio-printed identifying mark for the blind should all be examined next.

 

The picture of Mahatma Gandhi’s portrait may also be verified using the watermark window’s multidirectional lines and electrotype mark, which displays the denomination in numbers.

 

When a banknote is positioned flat or at an angle, the colour effects on the Rs 200, Rs 500, and Rs 2000 banknotes alter. The denomination’s numeral turns from green to blue.

 

Fluorescent ink is used to create the number panel. Additionally, ultraviolet light makes the optical fibers in the banknotes visible.

 

One portion of the denomination is printed on the front side of the number on the left side of the note, while the other portion is placed on the back. It appears as one number when held up to the light.

 

The denomination value is shown in the latent image on the right side of the Mahatma Gandhi picture. It is visible when the note is held horizontally and illuminated.

 

Micro lettering may be seen more clearly with the use of a magnifying lens since they are scattered throughout the banknotes in various locations.

 

More distinctive identifying elements were added by RBI in 2015, including the size of the number pattern, which makes the letter in the number panel the same size, and the fact that the numbers on the notes’ two number panels climb from left to right. The RBI specifies that the angular bleed lines, which are “4 lines in 2 blocks in 100, 4 angular bleed lines with two circles in between in 200, 5 lines in 3 blocks in 500, and 7 in 2000,” are the other characteristic for denominations of Rs. 100 and upwards.