News Brief
Rashtrapati Bhavan Auction: Rare Rs 10,000 Note Gifted To Pranab Mukherjee Fetches Rs 7.5 Lakh
Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi (ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images))
Rashtrapati Bhavan has put over 250 artefacts up for auction until 30 September, and a replica of a rare Rs 10,000 banknote presented to President Pranab Mukherjee in 2015 is attracting intense interest, reported The Indian Express.
The note, originally issued in 1935 with King George VI and reissued in 1950 with the Ashoka Pillar, started at a base price of Rs 5,000. So far, it has received 51 bids, with the highest offer reaching Rs 7.5 lakh.
A vintage-style railway clock, also gifted to Mukherjee in 2015 and modelled on the 1747 clock at London’s Victoria Station, is drawing similar attention.
The auction features tokens from schoolchildren, offerings from states, private organisations, defence services, and other national institutions to five presidents, Pratibha Patil, APJ Abdul Kalam, Ram Nath Kovind, Pranab Mukherjee, and Droupadi Murmu.
Officials said the proceeds will go to causes supporting women and children. Gifts from foreign dignitaries are excluded.
Other items include an Ashoka Pillar presented to President Kalam in 2003, handmade japis for various presidents, a Ram Mandir memento received by Mukherjee in 2013, and a miniature Ajmer Sharif Dargah model presented to Kovind in 2018.
President Murmu’s gifts, almost 90 of the 250 objects, include a crystal memento from Jamia Millia Islamia in 2023, a miniature Sanchi Stupa model from 2024, and various angavastrams.
This is the second edition of the auction, which started last year with an equal number of gifts. "People can come to the museum and see the gifts till the auction date,” officials said.
