As you all know, the rupee or rupiya is the common name for the currencies used in our country, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Mauritius, and Seychelles. In Indonesia the unit of currency is known as the rupiah and in the Maldives the rufiyah, which are cognate words of the Hindi rupiya.

The Indian rupee and our rupee are subdivided into one hundred paise or pice (singular paisa), the Sri Lankan rupee into 100 cents and the Nepalese rupee can be subdivided into one hundred paisa or pice (both singular and plural) or four sukas (singular suka) or two mohors (singular mohor).

The origin of the word 'rupee' is found in the Sanskrit word rûpyâh, which means 'wrought silver', originally something provided with an image, a coin. The word rupiya was coined by Sher Shah Suri during his brief rule of India between 1540 and 1545. It was used for the silver coin weighing 178 grains. He also introduced copper coins called dam and gold coins called mohur that weighed 169 grains. Later on, the Mughal emperors standardised this coinage across the subcontinent in order to strengthen the economic system.

The coin has been used since then, even during the times of British India, defined as 11.66 grams at 91.7 per cent silver by weight, which is silver worth about US$4 according to modern prices. In the late 19th century, the customary exchange rate was one rupee to one shilling and four pence in British currency, or 15 rupees to one pound sterling.

Valuation of the rupee based on its silver content had severe consequences in the 19th century, when the strongest economies in the world were on the gold standard. The discovery of vast quantities of silver in the United States and various European colonies resulted in a decline in the relative value of silver to gold. Suddenly, the standard currency of India could not buy as much from the outside world. This development was known as 'The fall of the Rupee'.

Formerly, the rupee was divided into 16 annas, 64 paise, or 192 pies. Today, in India and Pakistan, currency is issued in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 Rupees. Our currency is also issued in a denomination of 5000 Rupees.