Have you ever wondered that the Rupee in your pocket would have a mysterious past? Yes... today we will be discussing one rupee coin of India. As we all know that Indian Rupee is an official currency of the Republic of India. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India. Indian rupee is the one of the well-established currency in the world, and this one rupee has a long history.

The word ‘Rupee’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Rupyakam’ meaning Silver. In Arthashastra written by ‘Chanakya’ there is a mention of the word ‘Rupyarupa’, here the word Rupya means ‘wrought Silver’ there are other metals which are mention in this book like gold coins are refer as ‘Suvarnarupa’, copper coins and lead coins are referred as ‘Tamrarupa’ . In the 6th Century Kalachuri of Maheshmati king Krinaraja had issued a coin named as ‘Rupak’

The term continued through the ages and Indian rupee was named after the silver coin ‘Rupaya’ issued by Delhi Sultan Sher Shah Suri of Suri Dynasty in the 16th Century. To continue with it, in the later period coin weight standard and metal was continued by the Mughal Empire too.

During the British rule in India Rupee was subdivided into 16 annas, were each anna was subdivided into 4 paisas or 12 pies.

This is a silver rupee was issued by Mughal Emperor Akbar from the mint Agra. This attractive thing about this coin is that has ‘Rupaya’ written in Persian on the reverse.

Image Courtesy: Todywalla Auction