https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Anna_%28monetary_subunit%29Anna (monetary subunit) - Revision history2026-11-15T13:25:32ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anna_(monetary_subunit)&diff=486782&oldid=prevAndyMfn275514 at 17:36, 22 February 20262026-02-22T17:36:41Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|British India currency unit, 1/16 of a rupee}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2018}}<br />
{{more citations needed|date=March 2024}}<br />
{{Coin image box 1 double<br />
|header = 1 Indian anna<br />
|image = File:1 Indian Anna.jpg<br />
|caption_left = '''Obverse''': Crowned [[Bust (sculpture)|bust]] of [[George VI]], with lettering ''George VI King Emperor''.<br />
|caption_right = '''Reverse''': Year of minting and face value in numeral, English, Urdu, Bengali, Telugu and Devanagari scripts.<br />
|width = 250<br />
|footer = 125,548,000 coins minted (1918 to 1940) in [[copper-nickel]]<br />
|position = right<br />
|margin = 0<br />
}}<br />
<br />
{{Coin image box 1 double<br />
| header = One Quarter anna.<br />
| image = File:One Quarter anna (1933).jpg<br />
| caption_left = '''Obverse''': [[George V|King George V]] crowned head surrounded by lettering "GEORGE V KING EMPEROR" at the periphery.<br />
| caption_right = '''Reverse''': Denomination and year surrounded by wreath. Lettering "ONE QUARTER ANNA INDIA 1933".<br />
| width = 250<br />
| footer = 1,681,276,200 coins minted from 1912 to 1936.<br />
| position = right<br />
| margin = 0<br />
}}<br />
<br />
An '''anna''' (or '''ānna''') was a [[currency]] unit formerly used in [[British India]], equal to {{sfrac|16}} of a [[rupee]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Republic India Coinage|url=http://www.rbi.org.in/currency/museum/c-rep.html|access-date=14 July 2011|archive-date=24 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150324040019/http://www.rbi.org.in/currency/museum/c-rep.html|url-status=dead}}Accessed 14 July 2011.</ref> It was subdivided into four [[Paisa|pices]] or twelve [[Pie (Indian coin)|pie]]s (thus there were 192 pies in a rupee). When the rupee was decimalised and subdivided into 100 (new) [[Indian paisa|paise]], one anna was therefore equivalent to {{sfrac|6|1|4}} [[Indian paisa|paise]]. The anna was [[Legal tender#Demonetization|demonetised]] as a currency unit when India [[Decimalisation|decimalised]] its currency in 1957, followed by Pakistan in 1961. It was replaced by the 5-paise coin, which was itself discontinued in 1994 and demonetised in 2011. The term anna is frequently used to express a fraction of {{frac|16}}.<br />
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''Anna'' is derived from the [[Sanskrit]] {{lang|sa|अन्न}}, meaning "grain".<br />
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There was a coin of one anna, and also half-anna coins of copper and two-anna pieces of silver.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/mc_british_QueenVictoria.aspx|title=British India Coinage - Coins of Queen Victoria|publisher=Reserve Bank of India}}</ref> With the rupee having been valued to 1s 6d<ref>Schedule of Par Values, Currencies of Metropolitan Areas, The Statesman's Year Book 1947, pg xxiii, Macmillan & Co</ref> and weighing 180 grains as a 916.66 fine silver coin,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/mc_british.aspx|title= British India Coinage|publisher=Reserve Bank of India}}</ref> the anna was equivalent to {{sfrac|1|1|8}}d (one penny and half a farthing). Hence the 2 anna silver coins were of low weight (22.5 grains = 1.46 g).<br />
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Anna-denominated postage stamps were issued during the [[British Raj]] by the government of British India as well as by several [[princely states]], and after independence until decimalisation of the currency by India and Pakistan.<br />
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==Notation==<br />
The first number is the number of rupees, the second is the number of annas ({{sfrac|1|16}}), the third is the number of paisas ({{sfrac|1|64}}), and the fourth is the number of pies ({{sfrac|1|192}}). Examples are given below.<br />
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*Rs 1-15-3-2 = Rs 1.9947<br />
*Rs 1-8-3 = Rs 1.546<br />
*Rs 1-4 = Rs 1.25<br />
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==Coins==<br />
<gallery mode="packed" heights="100px"><br />
File:Reverse of the copper One Twelfth Anna.jpg|One Twelfth Anna ({{sfrac|1|12}} Anna) coin of 1903<br />
File:Obverse of the 1906 One Quarter Anna of India portraying the bust of Edward VII.jpg|Obverse of the 1906 quarter anna, with the bust of [[Edward VII]]<br />
File:2 Indian anna (1919).jpg|2 Indian annas (1919).<br />
File:Ana Naya Paisa Conversion Table.jpg|Annas - Paisa Conversion Table.<br />
Image: East India Company - Quarter Anna 1835.JPG|An 1835 quarter anna.<br />
</gallery><br />
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== Stamps ==<br />
<gallery mode="packed" heights="100px"><br />
File:1865ca Half India SG54 boxN°2.jpg | Half anna stamp of British India<br />
File:A stamp.JPG | One anna stamp of Alwar<br />
File:307-Railway-Centenary-India-Stamp-1953.jpg | Two anna stamp of independent India<br />
File:Pakistan1948-1952.jpg | One anna and one and a half anna stamps of independent Pakistan<br />
</gallery><br />
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==See also==<br />
{{Portal|Money|Numismatics}}<br />
*[[Indian coinage]]<br />
*[[British Indian coins]]<br />
*[[History of the rupee]]<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
{{Commons category|Anna (coins)}}<br />
{{Indian currency}}<br />
{{Historic Indian currency and coinage}}<br />
{{Rupee}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Historical currencies of India]]<br />
[[Category:Coins of India]]<br />
[[Category:Rupee]]</div>AndyMfn275514