The Pakistani rupee is an official currency of Islamic Republic of Pakistan since 1948 with currency code PKR and symbol Rs. The money is managed and controlled by the central bank named the State Bank of Pakistan. Before independence, the notes and coins were issued and regulated by the British Indian central bank called the Reserve Bank of India. In Pakistani language the number of large values is counted in terms of thousands, lakh (100,000), crore (10 million), arab (1 billion) and kharab (100 billion).
The Pakistani rupee was introduced as an official currency after the termination of British Raj in 1947. Initially, the British Indian notes and coins with a stamp over “Pakistan” were used until 1948. An official series of notes and coins were issued in 1948.
The first series of coins were issued in 1948 in denominations of 1 pice, 1⁄2, 1 and 2 annas, 1⁄4, 1⁄2 and 1 rupee. Coins of 1, 5 and 10 pice were added in 1961. The Pakistani government introduced a coin of 550 rupees on 550th birthday of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji in honour of inaugural of new Gurdwara of Kartarpur Pakistan.
The first series of Pakistani rupee notes were introduced on 1st April 1948 by Government of India and Reserve Bank of India on behalf of Government of Pakistan. In 1953, the State Bank of Pakistan took over the responsibility to issue national currency. The banknotes of 2, 5, 10 and 100 rupees were introduced in 1953. Until 1971, all Pakistani notes were bilingual featuring Bengali and Urdu, since Bengali was the state language of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
All the banknotes except 1 and 2 rupees feature a portrait of the Founder Father of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and reverse of banknotes vary in design and colour and have English text. The only Urdu text found on the reverse is a translation of Prophet Muhammad Hadith, “Seeking honest livelihood is the worship of God.” Which is (Hasool-e-Rizq-e-Halal Ibaadat hai).
The current series of Pakistani rupee banknotes and coins generally in circulation include:
Banknotes:
Frequently used 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000 Rupees
Rarely used 5000 Rupees.
Coins:
Frequently used 1, 2, 5, 10 Rupees.
Rarely used 20 Rupees