Pakistani rupee

Description

The Pakistani rupee  has been the official currency of Pakistan since 1948.

The coins and notes are issued and controlled by the central bank, namely State Bank of Pakistan.

Since the United States dollar suspension in 1971 of convertibility of paper currency into any precious metal, Pakistani rupee is, de facto, fiat money. Before the collapse of Bretton Woods system, currency was pegged at fixed exchange rate to the United States dollar for international trade and was backed by the US gold. The currency was convertible to gold on demand.

The word rūpiya is derived from the Sanskrit word rūpya, which means “wrought silver, a coin of silver” in origin an adjective meaning “shapely”, with a more specific meaning of “stamped, impressed”, whence “coin”. It is` derived from the noun rūpa “shape, likeness, image”. Rūpaya was used to denote the coin introduced by Sher Shah Suri during his reign from 1540 to 1545 CE.

The Pakistani Rupee was put into circulation in Pakistan after the dissolution of the British Raj in 1947. Initially, Pakistan used British Indian coins and notes simply over-stamped with “Pakistan”. New coins and banknotes were issued in 1948. Like the Indian rupee, it was originally divided into 16 annas, each of 4 pice or 12 pie. The currency was decimalised on 1 January 1961, with the rupee subdivided into 100 pice, renamed (in English) paise (singular paisa) later the same year. However, coins denominated in paise have not been issued since 1994.

Source: en.wikipedia.org