Hyderabad: Merchants, traders and even roadside vendors are unwilling to accept Rs10 coins, as rumours of their validity are spread like wildfire. It is believed that the rumours spawned on the social media, and spread on messaging apps like WhatsApp.

These messages claim that there are two coins – the fake one doesn’t have the rupee symbol (Rs). Unsure of the origin of these messages and unsure of the official version, shopkeepers are refusing the coins.

An official from the Reserve Bank of India said that it was not possible for counterfeiters to mint a Rs10 coin. “The cost of minting a Rs 10 coin is around Rs 6.10. Counterfeiters are unlikely to opt for an exercise that will give them so little profit with so much effort. Besides, the RBI has also officially announced that the Rs10 coin will not be withdrawn as legal tender.”

The RBI official added: “So far, we haven’t received any complaint on the issue and no banker has noticed any fake Rs 10 coin.”

Referring to the manufacturing process, the official said, “The Rs 10 coin is different from other coins. It is made in a biggish die. The mixture of metal and combination is very complicated to others. It came to our notice earlier that few gangs were melting coins to manufacture other articles like razors and gift articles, and mixture of different metals will stop this.”

Khailash Agarwal, a trader from Amberpet, said that due to the confusion over the shape and design of the coins, people are unwilling to accept it.

“The government has to create awareness on the matter. Most of the merchants are accepting Rs 10 notes against coins because of the weight. We can carry 100 currency notes of Rs 10 but not coins,” he said. Secretary of Bank Employees Federation M.S. Kumar said that no banker identified any fake Rs 10 coins.