The Pakistani rupee is the official currency of Pakistan. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the State Bank of Pakistan, the central bank of the country.

The most commonly used symbol for the rupee is Rs, used on receipts when purchasing goods and services. In Pakistan, the rupee is referred to as the "rupees", "rupaya" or "rupaye". As standard in Pakistani English, large values of rupees are counted in terms of thousands, lakh (100 thousand, in digits 100,000) and crore (10 million, in digits 10,000,000).

Summary info

Summary information about Pakistani rupee

ISO 4217 Code:

PKR

Currency sign:

Rs

Country:

Pakistan, Afghanistan

Subunit:

paisa

Coins:

1 rupee, 2 rupees

Banknotes:

5 rupees, 10 rupees, 20 rupees, 50 rupees, 100 rupees, 500 rupees, 1000 rupees, 5000 rupees

Central bank:

State Bank of Pakistan

History

Historically, most coins issued in Pakistan have reflected the coins of its Afghan and Indian neighbors. Afghani silver bent-bar coins were issued in the fourth century BC and Indian punch-marked silver and cast-copper coins were issued in the second century BC. The Scythians, Parthians and Kushans also issued Greek-style coins between the second century BC and the Sasanian Conquest in AD 224. The Huns replaced the Sasanians in the fourth century, and the Turks replaced the Huns in the seventh century.

Northern Pakistan fell under Islamic rule during the reign of Mahmud of Ghazna (997-1030). The Ghaznavid Dynasty issued coins with Arabic on one side and Indian Nagari cript on the other. The Ghurids ruled Pakistan from 1150 to 1203 when the Delhi Sultans established their rule over Pakistan. The Mughals conquered Pakistan in 1526 when Babur, defeated the Sultan of Delhi. During the 1750s Pakistan was seized from the Mughals by the Afghans under the first Durrani king, Ahmad Shah (1747-73). The British occupied Bakkhar in 1843 and from then on, Pakistan was under British control. On November 1, 1858 the British government took over the rule of India from the British East India Company. Pakistan gained its independence from British India on August 14, 1947, and East Pakistan declared its independence as the People’s Republic of Bangladesh on December 16, 1971.

The British tried to bring some order to the monetary chaos as they consolidated their control over India. The British standardized the silver Rupee (INR) throughout India, and made it divisible into 16 Annas, 64 Pice or 192 Pie. It took 15 Rupees to get 1 Mohur. Its value fluctuated, relative to the British Pound, as the values of silver and gold fluctuated. The Treasury of the Government of India issued banknotes until 1943. The Reserve Bank of India was set up in April 1, 1935 and took over responsibility for issuing banknotes.

The East India Company made the Madras rupee of the weight established in 1818 the standard for all of India; it was therefore called the "Company's rupee." Calcutta (sicca) rupees ceased to be legal tender as of January 1, 1838 (East India Company, Act No. 13 of 1836). The 1835 act also provided for coining the gold mohur, which was done beginning September 1, 1835. East India Company, proclamation of January 13, 1841, explicitly allowed mohurs to be used in paying the government, though they were not legal tender for paying private persons. The effect was to make India quasi bimetallic at a ratio of 15 units silver =1 unit gold. Gold mohurs ceased to be legal tender on December 1, 1853 putting India on a silver standard. In 1862 the coinage was transferred from the East India Company to the Indian colonial government (India, Act No. 13 of 1862). In 1876, the government of India was allowed to admit coins of native states as legal tender upon certain conditions (India, Act No. 9 of 1876).

The British standardized the silver Rupee (INR) throughout India, and it became the principal medium of exchange. Its value fluctuated, relative to the British Pound, as the values of silver and gold fluctuated. The Rupee fluctuated between 27 pence in 1870 and 16 pence on June 26 1893 when India effectively went on the gold standard. The Indian Coinage and Paper Currency Act, No. 22 of 1899 established a Pound Sterling exchange standard, giving legal tender status to British Gold Sovereigns. Banknotes were issued by the Government of India from 1861 until 1937, and by the Reserve Bank of India from 1937 until 1948.

The Pakistan Rupee was introduced on April 1, 1948 at par with the Indian Rupee. The Pakistan Rupee was divided into 16 Annas until 1961 and 100 Paisa from 1961 on. The State Bank of Pakistan and the Pakistan Government issue banknotes.

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.

Coins

In 1948, coins were introduced in denominations of 1 pice, ½, 1 and 2 annas, ¼, ½ and 1 rupee. 1 pie coins were added in 1951. In 1961, coins for 1, 5 and 10 pice were issued, followed later the same year by 1 paisa, 5 and 10 paise coins. In 1963, 10 and 25 paise coins were introduced, followed by 2 paise the next year. 1 rupee coins were reintroduced in 1979, followed by 2 rupees in 1998 and 5 rupees in 2002. 2 paise coins were last minted in 1976, with 1 paisa coins ceasing production in 1979. The 5, 10, 25 and 50 paise all ceased production in 1994. There are two variations of 2 rupee coins; most have clouds above the Badshahi Masjid but many don't have. This is noted by very few people. The one and two rupee coins were changed to aluminium in 2007.

Banknotes

On 1 April 1948, provisional notes were issued by the Reserve Bank of India and the Government of India on behalf of the Government of Pakistan, for use exclusively within Pakistan, without the possibility of redemption in India. Printed by the India Security Press in Nashik, these notes consist of Indian note plates engraved (not overprinted) with the words GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN in English and “Hukumat-e-Pakistan” in Urdu added at the top and bottom, respectively, of the watermark area on the front only; the signatures on these notes remain those of Indian banking and finance officials.

Regular government issues commenced in 1948 in denominations of 1, 5, 10 and 100 rupees. The government continued to issue 1 rupee notes until the 1980s but other note issuing was taken over by the State Bank in 1953, when 2, 5, 10 and 100 rupees notes were issued. Only a few 2 rupees notes were issued. 50 rupees notes were added in 1957, with 2 rupees notes reintroduced in 1985. In 1986, 500 rupees notes were introduced, followed by 1000 rupees the next year. 2 and 5 rupees notes were replaced by coins in 1998 and 2002. 20 rupee notes were added in 2005, followed by 5000 rupees in 2006.

All banknotes other than the 1 and 2 rupees feature a portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah on the obverse along with writing in Urdu. The reverses of the banknotes vary in design and have English text. The only Urdu text found on the reverse is the Urdu translation of the Prophetic Hadith, "Seeking honest livelihood is worship of God", which is حصول رزق حلال عبادت ہے (Hasool-e-Rizq-e-Halal Ibaadat hai).

The banknotes vary in size and colour, with larger denominations being longer than smaller ones. All contain multiple colours. However, each denomination does have one colour which predominates. All banknotes feature a watermark for security purposes. On the larger denomination notes, the watermark is a picture of Jinnah, while on smaller notes, it is a crescent and star. Different types of security threads are also present in each banknote.

PKR banknotes pictures gallery

---

Useful links

About State Bank of Pakistan:

State Bank of Pakistan

List of currencies:

Currencies

Security and design features of PKR banknotes:

PKR banknotes

PKR currency on Wikipedia:

Pakistani rupee

Official Website of State Bank of Pakistan:

www.sbp.org.pk

Commemorative coins:

Commemorative Coins