Extremely fine, Exceedingly rare.

The system of 'model prisons' was advocated in the Prison Reforms Committee of 1946 to try experimenting with “latest principles of penology” and where “latest sociological principle of penal reform are incorporated”. The Lucknow Central Prison was converted into a 'model prison' in 1949. Here the inmates were allowed to mix freely with least surveillance and there was no social, psychological or physical isolation. They were also given basic education and trained in various vocational skills, such as dhurrie-making, pot-making, dairy farming, papermaking and spinning yarn on the Charkha. At an establishment named 'Ganga Bhawan', the prisoners had their own canteen. The prisoners got paid for their work and they paid for their own food. Evidently, these tokens were issued to facilitate such monetary transactions inside the prison. The effigy of Mahatma Gandhi is appropriately placed on the token, as his broader ideas about Humanity and Ethics were at the root of founding 'model prisons'.