Centenary of Mahatma Gandhi’s Return from South Africa

Official commemorative coin set issued by the India Government Mint (SPMCIL). Mahatma Gandhi was twenty four years old when he arrived in South Africa as the legal counsel of Indian traders based in the city of Pretoria. He spent more than two decades in South Africa, where he faced the racial discriminations directed at all coloured people like; being thrown out of train at Pietermaritzburg station, being barred from several hotels, being asked to remove his turban in Durban Court etc. Gandhiji also established the “Tolstoy Farm” near Johannesburg in 1910 where he nurtured his policy of peaceful resistance. These events were a turning point in Gandhi’s life in shaping his social activism and awakening him to social injustice. Gandhi’s ideas took shape, and the concept of Satyagraha matured during his struggle in South Africa for the Indians living there. After witnessing racism, prejudice and injustice against Indians in South Africa, Gandhiji questioned his place in society and his people’s standing in the British Empire, following which he returned back to India in 1915. Gandhiji returned to India with formidable reputation to lead the Indian masses struggling for freedom from colonial domination through civil disobedience and non-violence, which proved to be highly effective moral weapon in India’s struggle for Independence. DENOMINATION OF THE COIN SHAPE, DIAMETER & No. OF SERRATION WEIGHT METAL COMPOSITION ONE HUNDRED RUPEES 4. CIRCULAR 5. DIAMETER – 44mm 6. SERRATIONS – 200 35.00 gms Quaternary Alloy Silver- 50 %, Copper – 40 %, Nickel- 05 % and Zinc- 05 % TEN RUPEES 1. CIRCUALR 2. DIAMETER – 27 mm 3. BI-METTALIC 7.71 gms Ring: Aluminum Bronze Cu: 92% Al6% Ni: 2% Core: Copper Nickel Cu: 75% Ni 25%