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Data source: RBI
India won its independence on August 15, 1947. During the transition, India retained the monetary system, currency, and coinage of the earlier period. It introduced a new distinctive series of coins on August 15, 1950.
Since independence, India’s coinage system has undergone a multitude of changes and revisions. Here are some broad categorisations of India’s coinage system since independence.
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Frozen Series
It represented the currency arrangements during the transition period (1947-50) up to the establishment of the Indian Republic.
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The monetary system remained unchanged, with one rupee consisting of 192 pies or 16 annas, one anna consisting of four pice, and one pice being equal to three pies.
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Anna Series
Introduced on August 15, 1950, the series represented the first coinage of the Republic of India. The King's portrait was replaced by the lion capital of the Ashoka Pillar, and a corn sheaf replaced the tiger on the one-rupee coin.
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Decimal Series
On April 1, 1957, the amendment to the Indian Coinage Act 1906 came into force, paving the way for the country to adopt a metric system for coinage.
Representative image
Naya Paisa Series
Under the decimal series, while the rupee remained unchanged in value and nomenclature, it was now divided into 100 'Paisa' instead of 16 Annas or 64 Pice. For public recognition, the new decimal Paisa was termed 'Naya Paisa' (1957-64).
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Paisa Series
On June 1, 1964, the term ‘Naya’ was dropped. Further, as commodity prices rose in the 60s, small denomination coins (made of bronze, nickel-brass, cupro-nickel, Aluminium-Bronze) were gradually minted in Aluminium.
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Over a period, 1, 2, and 3 paise coins were gradually discontinued in the 70s, and stainless steel coins of 10, 25, and 50 paise were introduced in 1988 and one rupee coins in 1992.
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2000s
In the first decade of the 21st century, the surge in the demand for metallic currency led to the introduction of a few new series: Unity in Diversity, Nritya Mudra, and Connectivity and Information Technology.
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₹
In 2011, the Rupee symbol (₹), the identity mark of the Indian rupee, was introduced on coins of denominations of ₹1, 2 and 5.
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On June 30, 2011, coins of denominations of 25 paise and lower were officially withdrawn and demonetised, via a directive from the RBI.
Image: Wikipedia.org/Joseph Kunnappally
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