The Maldivian rufiyaa (Dhivehi: ދިވެހި ރުފިޔާ; sign: Rf or ރ; code: MVR) is the currency of the Maldives.

[1] The earliest form of currency used in the Maldives was cowrie shells (Cypraea moneta) and historical accounts of travellers indicate that they were traded in this manner even during the 13th century.

As late as 1344, Ibn Battuta observed that more than 40 ships loaded with cowry shells were exported each year.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, lārin[2] (parallel straps of silver wire folded in half with dyed Persian and Arabic inscriptions) were imported and traded as currency.

Historians agree that this new form of currency was most probably exchanged for cowry shells and indicates Maldives' lucrative trade with these countries.

Compared to the previous forms of money, these coins were much neater and minted in pure silver.

The legend "King of Land and Sea, Iskandhar the Great" (Dhivehi: ކަނޑާއި އެއްގަމުގެ ރަސްގެފާނު، މަތިވެރި އިސްކަންދަރު) is found on the edge.

After this period, gold coins replaced the existing silver ones during the reign of Sultan Hassan Nooruddin in 1787.

Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, bronze coins were issued denominated in laari.

Sultan Mohamed Imaadhudheen IV (1900–1904) introduced what historians believe to be the first machine struck coins, judging the superior quality of the engravements.

His successor Sultan Mohamed Shamshudeen III (1904–1935) made the last of these coins, 1 and 4 laari denominations, which were struck in the United Kingdom by Heaton's Mint, Birmingham, England in 1913.

A parallel line is added to letter “Ra” to represent the arithmetic “equal” sign as used in various other currency symbols.

[4] In early 1960, Sultan Mohamed Fareed I ordered coins from the Royal Mint in England.

Unlike his predecessors, Sultan Fareed did not embellish his title on the coins; instead he used the National Emblem on the reverse side with the traditional title of the state (Arabic: الدولة المحلديبية, State of Maldives) and the denomination value on the obverse side.

The newly established central bank, the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), introduced the Rf.