Pemba, Silver Rupee, Pemba in Arabic is a clove-shaped indent; the Clove Islands being an old name for Pemba, bold counter struck on a lightly cleaned, but lustrous British Indian rupee dated 1840. Very rare type and grade, About extremely fine, rare. Pemba Island, also known as "The Green Island" in Arabic is an island forming part of the Zanzibar Archipelago, lying off the east coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. The counter struck coins of British India are used in currency in and around Zanzibar Peninsula.