Has govt got the date on Homi Bhabha coin wrong?

This seems to be the season of government goof-ups. First, a retired Pakistani air force officer appeared in a national ad. Then, Kolkata was dumped in the Bay of Bengal, while Delhi was sent to Pakistan in a railways map. And now, a Rs10 coin issued to mark the birth centenary of Dr Homi Jehangir Bhabha has got the year wrong. 

Brought into circulation a month ago, on the coin is inscribed: Homi Bhabha Centenary Year 2008-2009. But a city-based numismatist (one who studies coins), Shamji Vinchhi, says the year doesn’t make sense. “Homi Bhabha was born in 1909, and died in 1966. Where does 2008 fit as the centenary year?” 

He says never before has a coin mentioning a financial year been minted. Even if the financial year is taken into account, the Bhabha coin should have it as 2009-10. 

Memorial coins are usually issued with the birth and death years of the individual. For instance, a coin commemorating Mahatma Gandhi had ‘1869-1948’ inscribed on it, the one commemorating Indira Gandhi had ‘1917-1984’ and Jawaharlal Nehru’s had ‘1889-1964’. Another Nehru coin carried mention of the 100th
anniversary year of his birth: 1989. 

An official at the Mumbai-based mint that created the Bhabha coin said a committee had suggested the date. “The details printed on the coin have been provided by the Scientific Information Resource Division (Sird) of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. We were told to print the year, and did so.” 

RK Sharma, an official with Sird, said: “We have been celebrating the centenary year over 2008-2009, and hence, that is the year mentioned on the coin.”