# Indian 5-paisa coin

The Indian five paise (Hindi: पाँच पैसे) (singular: Paisa), is former denomination of the Indian Rupee. The 5 coin equals 1⁄20 of the Indian Rupee. The symbol for paisa is.

## History

Prior to 1957, Indian rupee was not decimalised and the rupee from 1835 to 1957 AD was further divided into 16 annas. Each anna was further divided to four Indian pices and each pice into three Indian pies till 1947 when the pie was demonetized. In 1955, India amended the "Indian Coinage Act" to adopt the metric system for coinage. Paisa coins were introduced in 1957, but from 1957 to 1964 the coin was called "Naya Paisa" (English: New Paisa. Plural: Naye paise). On 1 June 1964, the term "Naya" was dropped and the denomination was simply called "One paisa" (or paise for denomination greater than one). Paisa coins were issued as a part of "The Decimal Series". Five paise coins were minted from 1964 to 1984. 5 paise was equivalent to four-fifths of an anna (0.8 anna).

## Mintage

Five paise coins were minted from 1961 to 1984 at the India Government Mints in Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. The coins were demonetized in 1994.

### Mint marks

Depending on the mint producing the coins, following mint marks appear:
| Mint | Mark | Description | Comments |
| Hyderabad | ☆ | Five-pointed star | |
| Kolkata | | No mint-mark | Since this was the first Indian mint, coins minted in Kolkata don't carry a mark. |
| Mumbai | ⧫ | Diamond | |
| Mumbai | • | Small dot (solid) | |
| Mumbai | B | Letter B below year | |
| Mumbai | M | Letter M below year | On coins minted after 1996. |
| Noida | ° | Small dot (hollow) | |

### Total mintage

Total 4,924,011,110 coins were minted from 1964 to 1994.

### Composition

Five paise coins were minted from Cupronickel, Aluminium and Aluminium-magnesium in medallic alignment. The coins were rhombus shaped and had smooth edge.
* 1964-1966: Cupronickel.
* 1967-1984: Aluminium.
* 1984-1994: Aluminium-magnesium.

## Variants

5 paise coin variants (1964-1994). :
| Image | Image | KM# | Technical parameters | Technical parameters | Technical parameters | Technical parameters | Description | Description | Description | Year of minting | Year of minting | Comments |
| Obverse | Reverse | KM# | Weight | Diameter | Thickness | Metal | Edge | Obverse | Reverse | First | Last | Comments |
| | | 17 | 4.05 g | 22 mm | 2.2 mm | Cupronickel | Smooth | State Emblem of India & country name in Hindi and English. | Face-value, year and lettering रूपये का बीसवाँ भाग; (E: 20th part of a rupee) | 1964 | 1966 | |
| | | 18.1 | 1.6 g | 22 mm | 2.2 mm | Aluminium | Smooth | State Emblem of India & country name in Hindi and English. | Face-value, year and lettering रूपये का बीसवाँ भाग; (E: 20th part of a rupee) | 1967 | 1967 | Number 5 on reverse smaller in size. |
| | | 18.2 | 1.6 g | 22 mm | 2.2 mm | Aluminium | Smooth | State Emblem of India & country name in Hindi and English. | Face-value, year and lettering रूपये का बीसवाँ भाग; (E: 20th part of a rupee) | 1967 | 1971 | Arms type 1. Number 5 on reverse larger in size. |
| | | 18.3 | 1.6 g | 22 mm | 2.2 mm | Aluminium | Smooth | State Emblem of India & country name in Hindi and English. | Face-value, year and lettering रूपये का बीसवाँ भाग; (E: 20th part of a rupee) | 1967 | 1971 | Arms type 2. Number 5 on reverse larger in size. |
| | | 18.4 | 1.53 g | 22 mm | 2.0 mm | Aluminium | Smooth | State Emblem of India & country name in Hindi and English. | Face-value, year and lettering. | 1972 | 1972 | Hindi lettering on reverse omitted. |
| | | 18.5 | 1.53 g | 22 mm | 2.0 mm | Aluminium | Smooth | State Emblem of India & country name in Hindi and English. | Face-value, year and lettering. | 1973 | 1978 | Arms type 1. Number 5 on reverse larger in size. |
| | | 18.6 | 1.53 g | 22 mm | 2.0 mm | Aluminium | Smooth | State Emblem of India & country name in Hindi and English. | Face-value, year and lettering. | 1972 | 1984 | Arms type 2. Number 5 on reverse larger in size. |
| | | 23a | 1.03 g | 22 mm | 1.5 mm | Aluminium- magnesium | Smooth | State Emblem of India & country name in Hindi and English. | Face-value, year and lettering. | 1984 | 1994 | Lightest 5 paise coin. |