Though India became independent on 15th August 1947, until 1950, when the constitution was formed, old British coins were still in use as frozen currency. The first Rupee coin of Republic of India was minted in 1950. Other denominations of coins of modern India were also produced like the 1/2 Re, 1/4 Re, 2 Anna, 1 Anna, 1/2 Anna & 1 Pice coins which are also referred as Anna series or pre-decimal coinage. In 1957, India shifted to the decimal system, but for a short period both decimal and non-decimal coins were in circulation.

To differentiate between the 2 pice, the modern India coins minted between 1957 and 1964 have the legend "Naya Paisa" ("new" paisa). The denominations in circulation were 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50 (naya) paise and one rupee which remained as the same pre-decimal value.

The word "naya" was dropped in 1964. In this year a new denomination of 3 paise was introduced and in 1968 a 20 paise coin, both of which did not gain much popularity. Gradually in the 1970s, 1, 2 and 3 paise coins were phased out. An experimental set of 2 rupee coins were minted in 1982 to replace 2 Rs. Notes, which was not minted again until 1990.

In 1988 stainless steel modern India coins of 10, 25 and 50 paise, were introduced and in 1992 a new rupee stainless steel coin was minted which was much lighter than its earlier version. In the same year 5 Rupees Cupronickel coin was introduced and the most recent denomination of modern Indian coinage was the 10 Rupees coin which was minted for the first time in 2005.

As a mark of respect special coins were minted in memory of important events or personalities and these are referred to as commemorative Indian coins. Some of commemorative coins include coins depicting Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, B. R. Ambedkar, Rajiv Gandhi, Dnyaneshwar, 1982–Asian Games, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Subhas Chandra Bose, Sri Aurobindo, Chittaranjan Das, Chhatrapati Shivaji and logo of 2010-Commonwealth Games.