The laari is a coin denomination issued by the Maldives

Maldives

The Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...

 as the subdenomiation of the Maldivian rufiyaa

Maldivian rufiyaa

The rufiyaa is the currency of the Maldives. Determining the rate for the US Dollar and the issuance of the currency is controlled by the Maldives Monetary Authority . The most commonly used symbols for the rufiyaa are MRF and Rf. The ISO 4217 code for Maldivian rufiyaa is MVR. The rufiyaa is...

 since 1960. One rufiyaa is equal to 100 laari. The name is derived from lari

Lari (fish hook money)

Larin is the name of a class of objects serving as coins in areas around the Arabian Sea. The name is derived from Lar, a Persian town that according to tradition would have been the first to produce lari...

.

The Maldive Islands have been using laari for centuries but they were first described by François Pyrard de Laval, who lived in the islands (1602-1607)

The current coins are made out of a range of metal

Metal

A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...

s including nickel

Nickel

Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...

, brass

Brass

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...

, cupronickel

Cupronickel

Cupronickel or copper-nickel or "cupernickel" is an alloy of copper that contains nickel and strengthening elements, such as iron and manganese. Cupronickel is highly resistant to corrosion in seawater, because its electrode potential is adjusted to be neutral with regard to seawater...

 and aluminium

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....

. The coins are issued by the Maldives Monetary Authority

Maldives Monetary Authority

Maldives Monetary Authority or MMA acts as the central bank of the republic of Maldives and was established on July 1, 1981, under the mandate provided by the "MMA Act" of 1981...

(MMA).