Ancient India in circa 6th century BC, was one of the earliest issuers of coins in the world, along

g with the Chinese wen and

Lydian staters . The first " rupee " is believed to have been introduced by her hah uri !"#$6%"&#&', based on a ratio of #(
copper pieces !paisa' per rupee.
The word rpiya is derived for) word rpa, which )eans "wrought silver, a coin of silver",*+, in origin an ad-ective
)eaning "shapely", with a )ore specific )eaning of "sta)ped, i)pressed", whence "coin". It is derived fro) the noun rpa
"shape, li.eness, i)age".
Arthashastra, written by Chana.ya, pri)e )inister to the first /aurya e)peror Chandragupta /aurya!c. +#(012( BC3',
)entions silver coins as rpyarpa, other types of coins including gold coins !uvarnar4pa', copper coins ! Ta)rar4pa' and
lead coins !isar4pa' are also )entioned. 5upa )eans for) or shape, e6a)ple, 54pyar4pa, 54pya 0 wrought silver, r4pa 0
for).*",
7uring his five year rule fro) "&#( to "&#6, he set up a new civic and )ilitary ad)inistration, her hah uri issued a coin
of silver, weighing "8$ grains, which was ter)ed the Rupiya.*+, *6, The silver coin re)ained in use during the /ughal
period, /aratha era *8, as well as in British India.
Coinage since the British period
/ain articles9 Indian coinage, British Indian coins, and /odern Indian coins
The British settle)ents in :estern India, outh India, and the 3astern ;rovince of Bengal !Calcutta' independently
developed different coinages in consonance with the local acceptability of the coins for the purposes of trade.
" ;aisa coupon issued by ayla state
<ne rupee, =ueen >ictoria series, "$61
?alf anna !+ paisa' coin@ an anna A 6 paisa, Beorge >I series, "2#&
There are )any fa.e coins of 3ast India Co)pany, with Indian gods depicted on the obverse side as shown in side bar.
<riginal 3ast India Co)pany coins show only the coat of ar)s of the 3ast India Co)pany.
The coins of Bengal were developed in the /ughal style and those of /adras )ostly in a outh Indian style. The 3nglish
coins of :estern India developed along /ughal as well as 3nglish patterns. It was only in "8"8 A7 that the 3nglish
obtained per)ission fro) the 3)peror Carru.h iyar to coin /ughal )oney at the Bo)bay )int. The British gold coins
were ter)ed Carolina, the silver coins Anglina, the copper coins Cupperoon and tin coins Tinny. By the early "$+(, the
3nglish had beco)e the do)inant power in India. The Coinage Act of "$+& provided for unifor) coinage throughout India.
The new coins had the effigy of :illia) I> on the obverse and the value on the reverse in 3nglish and ;ersian. The coins
issued after "$#( bore the portrait of =ueen >ictoria. The first coinage under the crown was issued in "$61 and in "$88
=ueen >ictoria assu)ed the title the 3)press of India.

British Indian " rupee, "2"8
The "2"" accession to the throne of the Ding03)peror Beorge > led to the fa)ous "pig rupee". <n the coin the Ding
appeared wearing the chain of the <rder of the Indian 3lephant. Through poor engraving the elephant loo.ed very )uch li.e
a pig. The /usli) population was enraged and the i)age had to be Euic.ly redesigned.
Acute shortage of silver during the Cirst :orld :ar, led to the introduction of paper currency of <ne 5upee and Two and a
half 5upees. The silver coins of s)aller deno)inations were issued in cupro0nic.el. The co)pulsion of the econd :orld
:ar led to e6peri)ents in coinage where the standard rupee was replaced by the "=uaternary ilver Alloy". The =uaternary
ilver coins were issued fro) "2#(. In "2#8 these were replaced by pure Fic.el coins.
I))ediately after independence, the British coinage was continued. The /onetary yste) re)ained unchanged at <ne
5upee consisting of 6# pice, or "21 pies.
The "Anna eries" was introduced on "& August "2&(. this was the first coinage of 5epublic of India. The DingGs ;ortrait
was replaced by the Aso.aGs Lion Capital. A corn sheaf replaced the Tiger on the one 5upee coin. The )onetary syste) was
retained with one 5upee consisting of "6 Annas. The "2&& Indian Coinage !A)end)ent' Act, that ca)e into force with
effect fro) " April "2&8, introduced a "7eci)al series". The rupee was now divided into "(( G;aisaG instead of "6 Annas or
6# ;ice. The "Faye ;aise" coins were )inted in the deno)inations of ", 1, &, "(, 1( and &( Faye ;aise. Both the Anna
series and the Faye ;aise coins were valid for so)e ti)e. Cro) "26$ onward, the new coins were called -ust ;aise instead
of Faye ;aise because they were no )ore naye A new.
:ith high inflation in the si6ties, s)all deno)ination coins which were )ade of bronHe, nic.el0brass, cupro0nic.el, and
Alu)iniu)0BronHe were gradually )inted in Alu)iniu). This change co))enced with the introduction of the new
he6agonal + paise coin. A twenty paise coin was introduced in "26$ but did not gain )uch popularity.
<ver a period of ti)e, cost benefit considerations led to the gradual discontinuance of ", 1 and + paise coins in the
seventies@ tainless steel coinage of "(, 1& and &( paise, was introduced in "2$$ and of one rupee in "221. The very
considerable costs of )anaging note issues of 5e ", 5s 1, and 5s & led to the gradual coinisation of these deno)inations in
the "22(s.
Since 1947
/ain article9 Indian rupee
ince its Independence in "2#8, India has faced two )a-or financial crises and two conseEuent devaluations of the rupee9 In
"266 and "22".*$,
Decimalisation
A su))ary of the deci)alisation of the 5upee9
*2,
Dates Currency system
Cro) "$+& " rupee A "6 ananas A 6# pices !paise' A "21 pies
Cro) " April "2&8 " rupee A "(( naya paise
Cro) " Iune "26# " rupee A "(( paise
The price of "6 Ananas is " rupee in "2#8. The de)and for deci)alisation e6isted for over a century. ri Lan.a deci)alised
its rupee in "$62. The Indian Coinage Act was a)ended in epte)ber "2&& for the adoption of a deci)al syste) for
coinage. The Act ca)e into force with effect fro) " April "2&8. The rupee re)ained unchanged in value and no)enclature.
It, however, was now divided into "(( G;aisaG instead of "6 Annas or 6# ;ice. Cor public recognition, the new deci)al ;aisa
was ter)ed GFaya ;aisaG until " Iune "26# when the ter) GFayaG was dropped. The coins of that period also )entioned their
value in ter)s of the rupee to avoid confusion and cheating. Cor e6a)ple, the one paisa coin carried the te6t "<ne hundredth
of a 5upee" in ?indi.
1966 Economic crisis
Cro) "2&(, India ran continued trade deficits that increased in )agnitude in the "26(s. Curther)ore, the Bovern)ent of
India had a budget deficit proble) and could not borrow )oney fro) abroad or fro) the private corporate sector, due to
that sectorGs negative savings rate. As a result, the govern)ent issued bonds to the 5BI, which increased the )oney supply,
leading to inflation. In "266, foreign aid, which had hitherto been a .ey factor in preventing devaluation of the rupee, was
finally cut off and India was told it had to liberalise its restrictions on trade before foreign aid would again )aterialise. The
response was the politically unpopular step of devaluation acco)panied by liberalisation. Curther)ore, The Indo0;a.istani
:ar of "26& led the J and other countries friendly towards ;a.istan to withdraw foreign aid to India, which necessitated
)ore devaluation. 7efence spending in "26&K"266 was 1#.(6L of total e6penditure, the highest it has been in the period
fro) "26& to "2$2 !Coundations, pp "2&'. Another factor leading to devaluation was the drought of "26&K"266 which
resulted in a sharp rise in prices.
At the end of "262, the Indian 5upee was trading at around "+ British pence*clarification needed,. A decade later, by "282,
it was trading at around 6 British pence. Cinally by the end of "2$2, the Indian 5upee had plunged to an all0ti)e low of +
British pence. This triggered a wave of irreversible liberalisation refor)s away fro) populist )easures.
1991 Economic crisis
In "22", India still had a fi6ed e6change syste), where the rupee was pegged to the value of a bas.et of currencies of )a-or
trading partners. India started having balance of pay)ents proble)s since "2$&, and by the end of "22(, it found itself in
serious econo)ic trouble. The govern)ent was close to default and its foreign e6change reserves had dried up to the point
that India could barely finance three wee.sM worth of i)ports. As in "266, India faced high inflation and large govern)ent
budget deficits. This led the govern)ent to devalue the rupee.*"(,
At the end of "222, the Indian 5upee was devalued considerably.
Revaluation
In the period 1(((%1((8, the 5upee stopped declining and stabiliHed ranging between " J7 A IF5 ##%#$. In late 1((8,
the Indian 5upee reached a record high of 5s.+2 per J7, on account of sustained foreign invest)ent flows into the
country. This posed proble)s for )a-or e6porters, IT and B;< fir)s located in the country who were incurring losses in
their earnings given the appreciation in rupee. The trend has reversed lately with the 1(($ world financial crisis as Coreign
investors transferred huge su)s out to their own countries. uch appreciations were reflected in )any currencies, e.g. the
British ;ound, which had gained value against the dollar and then has lost value again with the recession of 1(($.
21! Depreciation
7ue to stagnant refor)s, and declining foreign invest)ent, rupee started depreciating in the early 1("+.*"", As a result, the
Indian 5upee dropped to 6$.$( per dollar. >arious )easures were announced by the Bovern)ent prior to this drop to
prevent it fro) dropping further. But, none )anaged to slow down the depreciation.*"1, After continued depreciation, and
high inflation, the ;ri)e /inister of India, /an)ohan ingh, )ade a state)ent in the ;arlia)ent of India on the issue. ?e
was of the view that, the present depreciation is partly led by global factors as well as do)estic factors. ?e also as.ed the
political parties to help his Bovern)ent, tide over the crisis that the country was facing with rupee losing its value.*"+,
Ban"notes
Early paper issues
Fotes issued by the Ban. of Bengal can be categorised in the following three series.
#ni$aced series9 The early notes of the Ban. of Bengal were printed only on one side and were issued as one gold
mohur and in deno)inations of 5s. "((, 5s. 1&(, 5s. &((, etc.
Commerce series9 Later notes had a vignette representing an allegorical fe)ale figure personifying Gco))erceG.
The notes were printed on both sides. <n the obverse the na)e of the ban. and the deno)inations were printed in
three scripts, viH., !Jrdu, Bengali and 7evanagari'. <n the reverse of such notes was printed a cartouche with
orna)entation carrying the na)e of the Ban..
Brittania series9 By late "2th century, the )otif Gco))erceG was replaced by GBritanniaG. The new ban.notes had
)ore features to prevent forgery.
British %ndia issues
The ;aper Currency Act of "$6" gave the Bovern)ent the )onopoly of note issue throughout the vast e6panse of British
India, which was a considerable tas.. 3ventually, the )anage)ent of paper currency was entrusted to the /int /asters, the
Accountant Benerals and the Controller of Currency.
&ictoria portrait series9 The first set of British India notes were the G>ictoria ;ortraitG series issued in
deno)inations of "(, 1(, &(, "(( and ",(((. These were unifaced, carried two language panels. The security
features incorporated the water)ar., the printed signature and the registration of the notes.
#nderprint series9 The unifaced Jnderprint series was introduced in "$68 as the >ictoria ;ortrait series was
withdrawn in the wa.e of a spate of forgeries. These notes were issued in deno)inations of 5s &, "(, 1(, &(, "((,
&((, ",((( and "(,(((.
'eorge & series9 A series carrying the portrait of Beorge > were introduced in "21+, and was continued as an
integral feature of all paper )oney issues of British India. These notes were issued in deno)inations of 5s ", 1N,
&, "(, &(, "((, ",(((, "(,(((.
Reserve Ban" issues during British %ndia
The 5eserve Ban. of India was for)ally inaugurated on /onday, April ", "2+& with its Central <ffice at Calcutta. ection
11 of the 5BI Act, "2+#, e)powered it to continue issuing Bovern)ent of India notes until its own notes were ready for
issue. The ban. issued the first five rupee note bearing the portrait of Beorge >I in "2+$. This was followed by 5s. "( in
Cebruary, 5s "(( in /arch and 5s ",((( and 5s "(,((( in Iune "2+$. The first 5eserve Ban. issues were signed by the
second Bovernor, ir Ia)es Taylor. In August "2#(, the one0rupee note was reintroduced as a warti)e )easure, as a
Bovern)ent note with the status of a rupee coin. 7uring the war, the Iapanese produced high0Euality forgeries of the Indian
currency. This necessitated a change in the water)ar.. The profile portrait of Beorge >I was changed to his full frontal
portrait. The security thread was introduced for the first ti)e in India. The Beorge >I series continued till "2#8 and
thereafter as a froHen series till "2&( when post0independence notes were issued.
Repu(lic o$ %ndia issues
Collowing the Independence of India the Bovern)ent of India brought out the new design 5e. " note in "2#2. Initially it
was felt that the DingGs portrait be replaced by a portrait of /ahat)a Bandhi. Cinally however, the Lion Capital of Aso.a
was chosen. The new design of notes were largely along earlier lines. In "2&+, ?indi was displayed pro)inently on the new
notes. The econo)ic crisis in late "26(s led to a reduction in the siHe of notes in "268. ?igh deno)ination notes, li.e 5s.
"(,((( notes were de)onetised in "28$.
The "/ahat)a Bandhi eries" was introduced in "226. ;ro)inent new features included a changed water)ar., windowed
security thread, latent i)age and intaglio features for the visually handicapped.

?yderabad state < 5s. "(( issue

Cive rupees, "211

;ortuguese Indian " rupee, "21#

Crench Indian " rupee, "2+$

Beorge >I profile portrait, 5BI, "2+8

<ne rupee, British India

Beorge >I profile portrait changed to frontal portrait, 5BI, "2#+

Two rupees, 5epublic of India