Bengali Currency Numerator Three

৶ is a historical Bengali fraction sign for a numerator of three. In old accounts, it pairs with ৹ to record 3/16 of a rupee.

Text symbol

What ৶ means

It marks three as the numerator in an old Bengali fraction system.

Together, ৶ and ৹ form ৶৹: ৶ gives the numerator, or number of parts, and ৹ sets the denominator at sixteen equal parts. The result is three annas, or 3/16 of a rupee; one anna was 1/16 of a rupee. The ordinary Bengali digit for three is ৩.

An early printed account appears in Nathaniel Brassey Halhed’s 1778 grammar, a book explaining Bengali language and writing. The notation served currency and other quantities in the pre-decimal system; decimalization in 1957 diminished its use. A related pre-decimal North Indian system used additive marks, each contributing a value instead of naming a numerator or denominator.

Historical and archival; it belongs to old Bengali accounting.

Read it as a fraction numerator, not the ordinary Bengali digit ৩.

Part of the collection

Fraction Symbols

Who writes ৶

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Questions people ask

Is ৶ still used?

No. As of 2026, Unicode’s Bengali chart labels it “not in current usage”; treat it as historical notation when it appears in an old account or a technical reference.