Shubha: Made First Article With Sources

2026-04-18T14:24:33Z

Made First Article With Sources

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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2019}}
[[File:Bhopal Govt Postage - One Anna Three Pies.png|thumb|right|A [[Bhopal State]] postage stamp worth 1 anna and three pies]]
A '''pie''' (abbreviated as '''Ps''') was a unit of [[currency]] in [[British Raj|British India]] (now the independent nations of [[India]], [[Burma]], [[Pakistan]] and [[Bangladesh]]) until 1947. It was the smallest currency unit, equal to {{frac|3}} of a [[paisa|pice]], {{frac|12}} of an [[Anna (monetary subunit)|anna]] or {{frac|192}} of a [[rupee]].<ref>{{cite web
|title=Pakistan paper money catalogue and Pakistani currency history
|website=World Paper Money Catalog and History
|url=https://atsnotes.com/catalog/banknotes/pakistan.html
|publisher=ATS Notes
|language=en
|access-date=9 January 2026
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Laughlin|first=J. Laurence|date=September 1893|title=Indian Monetary History|journal=Journal of Political Economy|volume=1|issue=4|pages=593–596|doi=10.1086/250171|s2cid=153692183 |issn=0022-3808|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1727485}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! style="text-align:center;" | Unit
! style="text-align:center;" | Value in pies
|-
| style="text-align:center;" | 1 rupee
| style="text-align:center;" | 192
|-
| style="text-align:center;" | 1 anna
| style="text-align:center;" | 12
|-
| style="text-align:center;" | 1 paisa
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
|}

==History==
Shell currency had been used before coins became widespread, during the mid-nineteenth century, one pie was equivalent to about 12 [[Shell money|cowry]].<ref>{{cite web
|title=India, Cowry Shell Money, 18th–19th Century
|website=Alvin – Platform for Digital Collections and Digitized Cultural Heritage
|publisher=Uppsala University Library
|url=https://cerl.epc.ub.uu.se/alvin/view.jsf?pid=alvin-record%3A572317&dswid=1885
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260110135049/https://cerl.epc.ub.uu.se/alvin/view.jsf?pid=alvin-record%3A572317&dswid=1885
|archive-date=10 January 2026
|language=en
|access-date=11 January 2026
}}</ref> The pie had been minted at [[Alipore|Alipur]], Calcutta but minting of the pie ended in 1942 the year before the Mint was shifted to Lahore,<ref>{{cite web
|title=History – Pakistan Mint
|website=Pakistan Mint
|publisher=Government of Pakistan
|url=https://pakistanmint.gov.pk/Detail/NWQ3YzE5YjEtNTk4Yi00MmE1LTgzOWItOGNkNGNmN2UwM2Ey
|language=en
|access-date=10 January 2026
}}</ref> 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.<ref name="value" group="note">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 [[Penny (British pre-decimal coin)|pence]] or {{frac|3|8}} of a [[Farthing (British coin)|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/)</ref>

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 [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]] while coins from 1956 and 1957 were struck in the name of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.<ref>{{cite web
|title=1 Pie
|website=Numista
|url=https://en.numista.com/4860
|publisher=Numista
|language=en
|access-date=9 January 2026
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|title=Catalogue of all Circulating Coins of Pakistan
|website=Pakistan Mint
|publisher=Government of Pakistan
|url=https://pakistanmint.gov.pk/Detail/MTNhNTdlZWItN2Y4Mi00NGVhLThhYWYtOWIzNTIxYjc4Y2Vj
|language=en
|access-date=10 January 2026
}}</ref> 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. The pie was noted in official documents and legalisation during this time - for instance the Finance Act of 1957 notes the [[Excise#Tobacco, alcohol and_gasoline|excise]] for motor spirit (i.e. petrol) being "One rupee, eight annas and nine pies Per Imperial gallon" - this was to be the rate until March 1958.<ref>{{cite report
|title=A Collection of the Central Acts and Ordinances for the Year 1957
|publisher=Ministry of Law and Justice
|website=Government of Pakistan
|url=https://molaw.gov.pk/SiteImage/Misc/files/Collections/1957.pdf
|year=1957
|page=8
|language=en
|access-date=11 January 2026
}}</ref>

===Postage===
[[File:Bahawalpur 1949 Mi 26 stamp (75th anniversary of the UPU. UPU Monument, Bern, Switzerland) 1200dpi.jpg|right|thumb|A 1949 stamp worth 9 pies from the Princely State of [[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]]]
In 1854 postage stamps were introduced to British India, for a letter weighing {{frac|6}} of a [[Tola (unit)|tola]] or less the cost was 6 pies,<ref>{{cite report
|title=The Post Office of India and Its Story
|author=Geoffrey Clarke
|publisher=Government of India
|website=Irrigation Department, Government of Sindh
|url=https://irrigation.sindh.gov.pk/files/Books//170.pdf
|language=en
|page=32 (43)
|access-date=11 January 2026
}}</ref> In 1866 postal rates were reduced (although not the minimum cost) so a letter weighing {{frac|4}} of a tola or less cost 6 pies.<ref>{{cite report
|title=The Post Office of India and Its Story
|author=Geoffrey Clarke
|publisher=Government of India
|website=Irrigation Department, Government of Sindh
|url=https://irrigation.sindh.gov.pk/files/Books//170.pdf
|language=en
|page=38 (49)
|access-date=11 January 2026
}}</ref> In 1869 a letter weighing {{frac|2}} of a tola or less cost 6 pies.<ref>{{cite report
|title=The Post Office of India and Its Story
|author=Geoffrey Clarke
|publisher=Government of India
|website=Irrigation Department, Government of Sindh
|url=https://irrigation.sindh.gov.pk/files/Books//170.pdf
|language=en
|page=39 (50)
|access-date=11 January 2026
}}</ref> Equivalent stamps were used in Princely States.<ref>{{cite web
|title=Coat of Arms – Inscribed "BHOPAL STATE POSTAGE" Overprinted SERVICE (1937)
|website=StampWorld
|url=https://www.stampworld.com/stamps/Bhopal/Official%20stamps/g0032
|publisher=StampWorld
|language=en
|access-date=11 January 2026
}}</ref>

==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 ({{frac|1|16}}), the third is the number of pices ({{frac|1|64}}), and the fourth is the number of pies ({{frac|1|192}}). The table below shows four examples of currency notation and their decimal value:

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Conversion of currency notation to Decimal Rupees
! style="text-align:center;" | Notation
! style="text-align:center;" | Rupees
! style="text-align:center;" | Annas
! style="text-align:center;" | Pices
! style="text-align:center;" | Pies
! style="text-align:center;" | Decimal value (Rs)
|-
| style="text-align:center;" | Rs 1/15/3/2
| style="text-align:center;" | 1
| style="text-align:center;" | 15
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| style="text-align:center;" | 2
| style="text-align:center;" | 1.9947
|-
| style="text-align:center;" | Rs 1/8/3
| style="text-align:center;" | 1
| style="text-align:center;" | 8
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
| style="text-align:center;" | —
| style="text-align:center;" | 1.546
|-
| style="text-align:center;" | Rs 1/4
| style="text-align:center;" | 1
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
| style="text-align:center;" | —
| style="text-align:center;" | —
| style="text-align:center;" | 1.25
|-
| style="text-align:center;" | Rs 1
| style="text-align:center;" | 1
| style="text-align:center;" | —
| style="text-align:center;" | —
| style="text-align:center;" | —
| style="text-align:center;" | 1.00
|-

|}

==Notes==
{{Portal|Money}}
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Indian currency}}
{{Historic Indian currency and coinage}}
{{Rupee}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Indian Pie}}
[[Category:Coins of India|Pie]]
[[Category:Historical currencies of India]]
[[Category:Rupee]]
[[Category:Currencies of Pakistan]]

{{Money-unit-stub}}
{{India-hist-stub}}
{{Pakistan-hist-stub}}

Pie (monetary subunit) - Revision history

Shubha: Made First Article With Sources