The Currency Bazaar

Open data

What the signature on a note is actually worth

Everyone says a particular governor's signature makes a note valuable. That is true — but not for the reason people are given. We measured 9 signatures across 3 denominations and 299 completed sales.

The signature is not a magic mark. It is a date stamp. On the ₹2 note the oldest signature fetches 10.7× what the newest one does. Nothing about the ink is rare — the old note is.

₹2 note, by whose signature is on it

Governor Served Median sale Sales
P. C. Bhattacharyya 1962–1967 ₹525 10
L. K. Jha 1967–1970 ₹265 14
I. G. Patel 1977–1982 ₹49 30
R. N. Malhotra 1985–1990 ₹49 59

Oldest signature fetches 10.7× the newest, across 113 recorded sales.

₹10 note, by whose signature is on it

Governor Served Median sale Sales
H. V. R. Iengar 1957–1962 ₹575 8
P. C. Bhattacharyya 1962–1967 ₹499 11
S. Jagannathan 1970–1975 ₹90 13
I. G. Patel 1977–1982 ₹99 8
Manmohan Singh 1982–1985 ₹149 10
R. N. Malhotra 1985–1990 ₹78 29

Oldest signature fetches 7.4× the newest, across 79 recorded sales.

₹5 note, by whose signature is on it

Governor Served Median sale Sales
C. D. Deshmukh 1943–1949 ₹5,100 8
P. C. Bhattacharyya 1962–1967 ₹423 8
S. Jagannathan 1970–1975 ₹190 18
I. G. Patel 1977–1982 ₹54 8
R. N. Malhotra 1985–1990 ₹49 15
Bimal Jalan 1997–2003 ₹45 8

Oldest signature fetches 113.3× the newest, across 65 recorded sales.

What was counted, and what was thrown out

Plain notes only. Bundles, fancy serial numbers and sets are all excluded. A bundle carrying a governor's signature sells for many times that governor's ordinary note — and the bundle's price belongs to the bundle, not to the signature.

Every comparison is made inside one denomination. Governors did not all sign the same notes, so ranking governors directly would compare denominations wearing a governor's name.

What survives both filters: 20 identities holding 299 recorded sales.

What this means if somebody is offering to buy yours

Do not price a note from the governor's name alone. Find your denomination in the tables above, then your governor's row — and remember that is the plain note. Condition can halve it.

And if somebody tells you a note with a recent signature is worth lakhs, the rows above show what recent signatures actually fetch.

One test settles every case: a real buyer never asks the seller for money. See what the RBI says and why asking prices mislead.

Take the data

Every table above, as a file: CSV · JSON

Cite it as: The Currency Bazaar, "What the signature on a note is actually worth", 299 completed sales. https://thecurrencybazaar.com/note-signature-value

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