Indian man claims he found rare ₹500 note, Reddit quickly shuts down his theory

After finding a ₹500 note from his grandfather's belongings, an Indian man sought Reddit's input on its value.

An Indian man took to Reddit to share photos of a rare ₹500 note he discovered stashed in some old luggage owned by his grandfather. The man guessed that the note could have been over 50 years old and wanted to ask Reddit what it would be worth today.

A man discovered a ₹500 note in his grandfather's belongings, thinking it was from the 1970s(Reddit/fcbmafaan)

"I found this old ₹500 Indian banknote from the 1970s in my dad’s old trunk. It has some damage (a part is missing). I’m curious if it has any value for collectors," he said, sharing pictures of the old note, torn and pasted together with tape and frayed on the edges.

Not as old as thought

The Reddit community quickly came up with answers and corrected the date of the note's printing. "This is signed by C Rangarajan who was the RBI governed from 1992-97. So definitely much later than the time period you mentioned," said one user.

The 500-rupee banknote was first introduced 1987 followed by the ₹1,000 note. So the note could not be from the 1970s like the man assumed.

" ₹500 note were introduced in the late 80s and there was no 500rs note in the 70s. It’s worthless. Maybe wait a few decades and keep it safely," suggested another user.

‘Zero in value’

While some said that the note could be worth exactly its legal value which is ₹500, others claimed that it could be worthless. "Sorry to disappoint, it will be worth exactly 500 when exchanged at a bank. As per RBI and pre-2016 500 denomination note is not a legal tender so zero," read the comments.

One user added that the note's condition could also affect its value. "The condition of the note is very bad for it to be of any real collector value now," he said.

"Seems like it was demonetised before your birth. Some lunatic can still pay you well above its value to put it in his collection," suggested another user.