It is an official currency of Mauritius with currency code MUR and symbol Rs. It is subdivided into 100 cents. The first Mauritius Rupees coins were introduced in 1977 in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 cents. Production of coins ceased in 1899 to until 1911. In 1971, the Royal Mint introduced a whole new series of coins and banknotes. On 40th anniversary of the Bank of Mauritius, coin of 20 rupee was introduced that is now in general circulation.
The first series of Mauritius Rupees banknotes were introduced in 1876 in denominations of 5, 10 and 50 rupee. In 1919, banknotes of 1 rupee was added. In 1940, under emergency issue, banknotes of 25, 50 cents and 1 rupee were made. Banknotes of 25 and 1000 rupee were added in 1954.
The Bank of Mauritius was established in 1967 who took the sole responsibility for issue of coins and banknotes. The Bank of Mauritius issued first series of banknotes in denomination of 5, 10, 25 and 50 rupee. A whole new set of banknotes were introduced in 1985 in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 rupee. The issue of these banknote lasted up to 1998.
In 1998, the Bank of Mauritius introduced a new set of Mauritius Rupees banknotes comprising of seven denominations, 25, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000 and 2000 rupee. All banknotes were issued at the same time in November 1998 with same standard format. The Bank of Mauritius made last issue of banknotes in June 1999 which is still in use.
Recently banknotes of ₨ 25, ₨ 50, ₨ 100, ₨ 200, ₨ 500, ₨ 1000, ₨ 2000 and coins of 5¢, 20¢, 50¢, ₨ 1, ₨ 5, ₨ 10, and ₨ 20 are generally circulation in Mauritius economy.