The Pakistan Mint is the

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

's official maker of Pakistani coins. It is currently located in Shalimar Town,

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

History

The Pakistan Mint was founded in September 1943 as His Majesty's Mint when, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

n government relocated mint operations from

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

in response to Japanese bombing. After the

partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

in 1947, the mint was renamed Pakistan Mint. In 2003, the

Federal Investigation Agency The Federal Investigation Agency (; reporting name: FIA) is a border control, criminal investigation, counter-intelligence and security agency under the control of the Interior Secretary of Pakistan, tasked with investigative jurisdiction on u ...

(FIA) uncovered a Rs. 26 million fraud at the Pakistan Mint, implicating Mint Master Riaz Hasan Khan, Works Manager Raja Fayyaz Anwar, and Deputy Secretary Muhammad Younis. The probe was launched on the orders of the

Lahore High Court The Lahore High Court () is a provincial court house based in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was established as a high court on 21 March 1882. The Lahore High Court has jurisdiction over the province of Punjab. The High Court's principal seat is ...

after a complaint from the lowest bidder for supplying

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

and

nickel Nickel is a chemical element; it has symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive, but large pieces are slo ...

. According to the FIA, during 2001–2002 the accused colluded with a local supplier to award contracts at inflated prices, despite the mint's existing metal stocks. The inquiry found that they bypassed mandatory price comparisons with the

London Metal Exchange The London Metal Exchange (LME) is a futures and forwards exchange in London, United Kingdom with the world's largest market in standardised forward contracts, futures contracts and options on base metals. The exchange also offers contracts on ...

, accepted substandard materials, and concealed procurement details. The FIA report alleged Riaz Hasan Khan received Rs. 5.5 million to favor a non-specialist firm, resulting in losses to the state exchequer and possible

tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...

by the supplier's

chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Products

Pakistan Mint has been manufacturing not only coins or currency for the state with denominations of 1, 2, 5 and 10. It also manufactures medals and awards for the Armed Forces, postal seals and stamps.

References

{{Portal bar, Money, Pakistan State Bank of Pakistan 1943 establishments in British India Mints (currency) Government agencies established in 1943 Currencies of Pakistan Government-owned companies of Pakistan Companies based in Lahore