The 30-paise opera

Economic Times
Atmadip Ray, ET Bureau Mar 11, 2011, 01.09am IST

Till the early 80s, 3-paise coins were very much in circulation, even if it did not fit in the decimal series. The government made the exception and introduced 3-paise coins in 1964 to reduce the demand for 2-paise and 1-paise coins. But many wouldn't know that the government was also considering a proposal to introduce 30-paise coins sometimes in 1973.
The Posts & Telegraphs Board had suggested this for operating coin-collecting boxes at telephone booths.
That was a time when post offices used to run telephone booths and charge 30 paise per call. The Posts & Telegraphs Board thus wanted one coin in the denomination of 30 paise in place of three 10-paise coins of an aggregate weight of 6.9 grams being used in those coin-collecting boxes.