Pie (monetary subunit)

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A Bhopal State postage stamp worth 1 anna and three pies Bhopal Govt Postage - One Anna Three Pies.png
A Bhopal State postage stamp worth 1 anna and three pies

A pie (abbreviated as Ps) was a unit of currency in British India (now the independent nations of India, Burma, Pakistan and Bangladesh) until 1947. It was the smallest currency unit, equal to 13 of a pice, 112 of an anna or 1192 of a rupee. [1]

Contents

History

During the mid-nineteenth century, one pie was worth 12 cowry. [2]

Minting of the pie ended in 1942, though it remained in circulation for a further five years. The pie was demonetized in 1947 as it had become practically worthless due to inflation during WW2. [note 1]

Pakistan, however, resumed minting the pie from 1951–1957, coins from 1951 were stuck in the name of King George VI, coins produced between 1952 and 1955 were struck in the name of Queen Elizabeth II while coins from 1956 and 1957 were struck in the name of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. [3] Pakistan's resumption of the pie was in part because the Pakistani rupee was valued higher than the Indian rupee from 1949 onwards, when India devalued its currency to maintain the exchange rate with the Pound Sterling.

Notation

Under the old currency system, each subunit of the Rupee was separated with a slash, the first number is the number of rupees, the second is the number of annas (116), the third is the number of pices (164), and the fourth is the number of pies (1192). The table below shows four examples of currency notation and their decimal value:

Conversion of currency notation to Decimal Rupees
NotationRupeesAnnasPicesPiesDecimal value (Rs)
Rs 1/15/3/2115321.9947
Rs 1/8/31831.546
Rs 1/4141.25
Rs 111.00

Notes

  1. Until 1966, India was a member of the sterling area, with the rupee pegged to the British pound sterling and having a value of 1s 6d, or 18 (old) pence; a pie was therefore worth 0.09 old pence or 38 of a farthing in 1947. In 1947, however, a single old penny had an estimated purchasing power of 14 new pence (in 2014 values). Therefore, a pie had a value of 1.3 pence in 2014. (Schedule of Par Values, Currencies of Metropolitan Areas, The Statesman's Year Book 1947, pg xxiii, Macmillan & Co.; measuringworth.com/ppoweruk/)

References

  1. "Pakistan paper money catalogue and Pakistani currency history". World Paper Money Catalog and History. ATS Notes. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  2. Laughlin, J. Laurence (September 1893). "Indian Monetary History". Journal of Political Economy. 1 (4): 593–596. doi:10.1086/250171. ISSN   0022-3808. S2CID   153692183.
  3. "1 Pie". Numista. Numista. Retrieved 9 January 2026.