The Maldives converted to a decimal currency system in 1947, replacing the old larin-based coinage, though the name "laari" itself survived as a direct linguistic descendant of the larin — a fishhook-shaped silver coin once used across the Indian Ocean trade network. By the 1970s, aluminium had become the practical choice for low-denomination island coinage, where heat, humidity, and salt air accelerate corrosion in most other metals. KM#45b is the aluminium iteration of a type that had previously circulated in bronze.
The Maldives converted to a decimal currency system in 1947, replacing the old larin-based coinage, though the name "laari" itself survived as a direct linguistic descendant of the larin — a fishhook-shaped silver coin once used across the Indian Ocean trade network. By the 1970s, aluminium had become the practical choice for low-denomination island coinage, where heat, humidity, and salt air accelerate corrosion in most other metals. KM#45b is the aluminium iteration of a type that had previously circulated in bronze.