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 18 signatures across 6 denominations and 1,978 completed sales.

The signature is not a magic mark. It is a date stamp. On the ₹10 note the oldest signature fetches 64.3× what the newest one does. Nothing about the ink is rare — the old note is.

₹10 note, by whose signature is on it

Governor Served Median sale Sales
Sir James Taylor 1937–1943 ₹3,793 24
C. D. Deshmukh 1943–1949 ₹4,999 9
Sir Benegal Rama Rau 1949–1957 ₹688 46
H. V. R. Iengar 1957–1962 ₹519 30
P. C. Bhattacharyya 1962–1967 ₹513 98
L. K. Jha 1967–1970 ₹329 18
B. N. Adarkar 1970–1970 ₹375 31
S. Jagannathan 1970–1975 ₹155 18
I. G. Patel 1977–1982 ₹120 15
Manmohan Singh 1982–1985 ₹300 22
R. N. Malhotra 1985–1990 ₹116 54
C. Rangarajan 1992–1997 ₹59 12

Oldest signature fetches 64.3× the newest, across 377 recorded sales.

₹2 note, by whose signature is on it

Governor Served Median sale Sales
C. D. Deshmukh 1943–1949 ₹6,150 9
Sir Benegal Rama Rau 1949–1957 ₹768 29
H. V. R. Iengar 1957–1962 ₹899 26
P. C. Bhattacharyya 1962–1967 ₹613 77
L. K. Jha 1967–1970 ₹290 22
B. N. Adarkar 1970–1970 ₹1,000 10
I. G. Patel 1977–1982 ₹50 38
Manmohan Singh 1982–1985 ₹67 35
R. N. Malhotra 1985–1990 ₹54 83
S. Venkitaramanan 1990–1992 ₹69 10
C. Rangarajan 1992–1997 ₹51 10

Oldest signature fetches 120.6× the newest, across 349 recorded sales.

₹100 note, by whose signature is on it

Governor Served Median sale Sales
Sir Benegal Rama Rau 1949–1957 ₹25,000 13
H. V. R. Iengar 1957–1962 ₹5,945 21
P. C. Bhattacharyya 1962–1967 ₹1,250 29
L. K. Jha 1967–1970 ₹1,538 75
B. N. Adarkar 1970–1970 ₹2,063 10
S. Jagannathan 1970–1975 ₹500 53
I. G. Patel 1977–1982 ₹500 70
M. Narasimham 1977–1977 ₹413 15
Manmohan Singh 1982–1985 ₹349 9
R. N. Malhotra 1985–1990 ₹354 10
C. Rangarajan 1992–1997 ₹308 13
Raghuram Rajan 2013–2016 ₹216 8

Oldest signature fetches 115.7× the newest, across 326 recorded sales.

₹500 note, by whose signature is on it

Governor Served Median sale Sales
R. N. Malhotra 1985–1990 ₹1,225 30
S. Venkitaramanan 1990–1992 ₹1,025 47
C. Rangarajan 1992–1997 ₹1,025 114
Bimal Jalan 1997–2003 ₹375 40
Y. V. Reddy 2003–2008 ₹188 26
D. Subbarao 2008–2013 ₹154 58

Oldest signature fetches 8× the newest, across 315 recorded sales.

₹5 note, by whose signature is on it

Governor Served Median sale Sales
Sir James Taylor 1937–1943 ₹3,075 13
C. D. Deshmukh 1943–1949 ₹4,200 15
Sir Benegal Rama Rau 1949–1957 ₹745 34
H. V. R. Iengar 1957–1962 ₹720 37
P. C. Bhattacharyya 1962–1967 ₹577 54
L. K. Jha 1967–1970 ₹390 28
B. N. Adarkar 1970–1970 ₹713 16
S. Jagannathan 1970–1975 ₹350 52
Manmohan Singh 1982–1985 ₹165 12
R. N. Malhotra 1985–1990 ₹56 19

Oldest signature fetches 54.9× the newest, across 280 recorded sales.

₹50 note, by whose signature is on it

Governor Served Median sale Sales
S. Jagannathan 1970–1975 ₹1,137 14
I. G. Patel 1977–1982 ₹295 24
R. N. Malhotra 1985–1990 ₹188 22
Y. V. Reddy 2003–2008 ₹359 9

Oldest signature fetches 3.2× the newest, across 69 recorded sales.

What was counted, and what was thrown out

Plain notes only. Bundles, fancy serial numbers and sets are all excluded. Inside a single governor that difference runs to a hundredfold: R. N. Malhotra's ordinary ₹10 note has a median of ₹112, while a bundle carrying the same signature sits at ₹11,263. The bundle's price belongs to the bundle, not to the signature.

Every comparison is made inside one denomination. Governors do not cover the same notes — C. D. Deshmukh's are ₹2 and ₹5; Y. V. Reddy's are ₹50, ₹500 and ₹1,000. Ranking governors directly would compare denominations wearing a governor's name.

What survives both filters: 60 identities holding 1,978 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", 1,978 completed sales. https://thecurrencybazaar.com/note-signature-value

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