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A brief history ...

Muslim raids began on northern India at the close of the 900s. In 1338 Bengal, a region that includes Bangladesh, was able to separate itself from the Delhi sultanate and remain independent until its conquest by the Mughals in 1576. During this period the majority of the population became Muslims. At the Battle of Plassey in 1757, Robert Clive, acting for the company, defeated the ruler of Bengal and placed in office a successor more sympathetic to British interests. By 1772 the British had gained control over all of Bengal. In 1905 the British created the Muslim-dominated province of East Bengal to reduce friction with the mostly Hindu surrounding area, though the partition was reversed in 1912. Pakistan gained its independence from British India on August 14, 1947, and East Bengal became East Pakistan. East Pakistan declared its independence as the People's Republic of Bangladesh on December 16, 1971.

Bangladesh's monetary history has followed that of India. The earliest locally made coins were probably made during the second century BC, but there is no firm evidence of locally minted coins until the late Gupta period when Sasanka, king of Gauda (c. 600-625) issued Gupta-style gold coins. Indian, Burmese and Islamic coins circulated in Bangladesh for the next 500 years.

During the 1190s, Muhammad Bakhtyar Khilji, the Ghorid leader, invaded Bangladesh and issued gold coins with Arabic inscriptions. The Delhi Sultanate also issued large silver coins known as ‘tankas' for local governors. The local governors gained their independence between 1339 and 1538 and issued their own coins. The Delhi Sultanate re-established control in 1538 and in 1576 Bengal was absorbed into the Mughal Empire. Under Akbar, the Mughal's first emperor (1556-1605), gold mohur and silver rupees were issued.

After the British gained control of Bengal in 1772, the British East India Company began minting coins in Calcutta that circulated throughout Bengal. The East India Company made the Madras rupee of the weight established in 1818 the standard for all of India; it was therefore called the "Company's rupee." Calcutta (sicca) rupees ceased to be legal tender as of 1 January 1838 (East India Company, Act No. 13 of 1836). The 1835 act also provided for coining the gold mohur, which was done beginning 1 September 1835. East India Company, proclamation of 13 January 1841, explicitly allowed mohurs to be used in paying the government, though they were not legal tender for paying private persons. The effect was to make India quasi bimetallic at a ratio of 15 units silver =1 unit gold. Gold mohurs ceased to be legal tender on December 1, 1853 putting India on a silver standard. In 1862 the coinage was transferred from the East India Company to the Indian colonial government (India, Act No. 13 of 1862). In 1876, the government of India was allowed to admit coins of native states as legal tender upon certain conditions (India, Act No. 9 of 1876).

The British standardized the silver Rupee (INR) throughout India, and it became the principal medium of exchange. Its value fluctuated, relative to the British Pound, as the values of silver and gold fluctuated. The Rupee fluctuated between 27 pence in 1870 and 16 pence on June 26 1893 when India effectively went on the gold standard. The Indian Coinage and Paper Currency Act, No. 22 of 1899 established a Pound Sterling exchange standard, giving legal tender status to British Gold Sovereigns. Banknotes were issued by the Government of India from 1861 until 1937, and by the Reserve Bank of India from 1937 until 1948.

Initially, after gaining its independence, the Reserve Bank of India continued to issue banknotes and coins for Pakistan. The Pakistan Rupee (PKR) was introduced on April 1, 1948 as part of a currency union with India. The Rupee was made divisible into 100 Paise. Banknotes were issued by both the Government of Pakistan, and by the State Bank of Pakistan. The Bangladesh Taka (BDT) was created on January 1, 1972 and replaced the Pakistan Rupee at par, though notes were not issued until March 4, 1972 and coins on September 15, 1973. The Taka is divisible into 100 Paise. The Bangladesh Bank issues banknotes for Bangladesh.

Here is a 1 Take note from the 1982 issue. The note is purple with a multicolor underprint. The obverse has a vingette of deer, while the reverse has the coat of arms. There is a Tiger watermark to the right of the obverse in the blank area.

• Krause# Pick-6Bc

This is a 2 Taka note dated 2003. This note is gray-green on orange and green underprint. The obverse shows a monument, and the reverse depicts a Dhyal, or Magpie, Robin. There is a watermark present of a tiger's head. There are 6 known signature varieties for this note, the note shown has one of them.

• Krause# Pick-6Cf

This is a 2 Taka note that is undated. This note is gray-green on orange and green underprint. The obverse shows a monument, and the reverse depicts a Dhyal, or Magpie, Robin. There is a watermark present of a tiger's head.

• Krause# Pick-6C?

This note is no longer shown in newer issues of the Pick catalog, so i have no way of attributing the note to a Pick number. Hopefully it will be relisted in the catalog in upcoming releases.

This note was donated by Bob Young

Here is an undated dated 1 Taka 1973 note printed around 1973. The note is purple on ochre and blue underprint. The obverse depicts a hand holding a bunch of rice plants. the reverse shows the national coat of arms to the right. The note does not have a watermark. There are 2 signature varieites for this note, the one shown is one of them.

• Krause# Pick-5b

This is a 5 Taka note from the 1981 obverse issue. The note is brown on multicolored underprint. The obverse depicts Mihrab in Kusumba Mosque, which is named after the village of Kusumba, under the Manda upazila of Naogaon district, on the west bank of the Atrai river. The reverse shows a rice harvesting scene. The note has a watermark of tigers head. There are 3 signature varieties for this note, the note shown is one of them.

• Krause# Pick-25c
• Signature #1

Here is a 2004 dated 20 Taka note. The note is blue-green on multicolored underprint. The obverse features Chhote Sona mosque (sometimes described as a 'gem of Sultanate architecture' near the tahkhana complex in the Firuzpur Quarters of gaur-Lakhnauti, the capital of Sultanate Bengal). The reverse depicts a harvesting scene.

• Krause# Pick-40

• Krause# Pick-