The Indian paisa (plural: paise)() is a (one-hundredth) subdivision of the Indian rupee. The paisa was first introduced on 1 April 1957 after decimalisation of the Indian rupee.
In 1955, the Government of India first amended the Indian Coinage Act and adopted the "metric system for coinage". From 1957 to 1964, the paisa was called naya paisa () to distinguish it from the old paisa/pice which was a subdivision of the Indian Rupee. On 1 June 1964, the term "naya" was dropped and the denomination was named paisa. Paisa has been issued in 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 20, 25, and 50 paise coins. The paisa currency was officially demonetized in 2011, thus as of 2026, coins of the denomination of 1 rupee are the lowest value in use.
History
Prior to 1957, the Indian rupee was not decimalised and the rupee from 1835 to 1957 was further divided into 16 annas. Each anna was further divided to four Indian pices and each pice into three pies till 1947 when the pie was demonetised.
Denomination Corresponding value From To Comments One Indian rupee Sixteen Indian anna 1835 1947 1947 1950 1950 1957 Hundred paise 1957 1964 Naya paisa series 1964 Present Except 50 paise, rest all paise, anna, pice and pies coins demonetised. One Indian anna Four Indian pice 1835 1947 1947 1950 1950 1957 Anna and pice demonetised in 1957. One Indian pice Three Indian pies 1835 1947 Pies demonetised in 1947. One Indian rupee = 100 paise = 16 anna = 64 pice = 192 pies.
Coins
Naya paisa series (19571964) Naya paisa series Value Technical parameters Description Year of minting Monetarystatus Weight Diameter Thickness Metal Edge Obverse Reverse First Last 1 nayapaisa 1.5 g 16 mm 1 mm Bronze Plain State Emblem of India and country namein Hindi and English. Face-value and year. 1957 1962 Demonetised. 2 nayaPaise 2.95 g 18 mm 1.80 mm Cupronickel Smooth 1957 1963 Demonetised. 5 nayapaise 10 nayapaise 20 nayapaise 50 nayapaise
Paisa series (19642011)
PaisaAluminum series Value Technical parameters Description Year of minting Monetarystatus Mass Diameter Thickness Metal Edge Obverse Reverse First Last 1 paisa 0.75 g 17 mm 1.72 mm Aluminium Smooth State Emblem of India andcountry name in Hindi and English. Face-value and year. 1965 1981 Demonetised. 2 paise 1.0 g 20 mm 1.58 mm Demonetised. 3 paise 1.2 g 21 mm 2.0 mm 1964 1971 Demonetised. 5 paise 1.5 g 22.0 mm 2.17 mm State Emblem of India countryname and face-value. Year and "Save for development" lettering.Coin minted to commemorate FAO. 1977 1977 Demonetised. 10 paise 2.27 g 25.91 mm 1.92 mm State Emblem of India andcountry name in Hindi and English. Face-value and year. 1971 1982 Demonetised. 20 paise 2.2 g 26 mm 1.7 mm 1982 1997 Demonetised. 25 paise 2.83 g 19.05 mm 1.55 mm 1957 2002 Demonetised. 50 paise 2.9 g 19 mm 1.5 mm 1957 2002 Demonetised.
Mint mark
No mintmark = Kolkata ⧫ = Mumbai mint B = Mumbai Proof issues * = Hyderabad ° = Noida
Demonetization The paisa currency was announced to be withdrawn soon on 20 December 2010. The demonetization of the paisa currency came into effect on 30 June 2011, when the Reserve Bank of India ceased the circulation and minting of paisa coins.
Symbol
A symbol for the paisa ⟨⟩ was designed using the same concept as the symbol for rupee. However, the proposed symbol never appeared on any coin, as the Reserve Bank of India had stopped minting any paisa coins before this proposal.
See also Paisa History of the rupee
References
External links