Notes and Coins of Nepal Rastra Bank GOLDEN JUBILEE YEAR 2005/06 Kathmandu, Nepal © 2006 Nepal Rastra Bank Central Office Baluwatar, Kathmandu Nepal Website: http://www.nrb.org.np All rights reserved. Compilation Assistance : Note Section : Mr. Shyam Agrawal (Ghiraiya) Coin Section : Mr. Kamal Prasad Gyawali Cover Design : Mr. Sundar Shrestha Computer Layout Design : Mr. Binod Maharjan, Tel. : 2120235 Printed by : Monaj Printing House Pvt. Ltd., Kupondole, Tel. : 5524075, 5534007 It gives me great pleasure in bringing out this publication on the ‘Notes and Coins of Nepal’ on the auspicious occasion of the Golden Jubilee Year of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), which was established as the central bank of the country on April 26, 1956 under the Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 1955. Incorporating all representative notes issued in Nepal and the coins issued by the NRB, this publication captures the evolution of the notes and coins issuance in Nepal through their pictorial representation and description. I believe this publication will serve as a useful reference source to those interested in the notes and coins of Nepal. It may be recalled that the NRB was established when a dual currency system was in practice with the Nepalese and Indian Currencies both circulating in the country. For the purpose of making the Nepalese Currency the legal tender, it was imperative to develop a proper system of notes and coins and ensure confi dence in the national currency. This motivation was refl ected in the preamble to the 1955 Act which stated that the Bank would ensure “proper management for the issuance of the Nepalese currency notes”. This importance has been reiterated in the Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 2002 which states a function of the Bank as “to take necessary decisions with regard to the denominations of bank notes and coins, the fi gures, size, metal, materials for printing notes and other materials, and to frame appropriate policies with regard to their issue.” The responsibility of issuing currency notes was initially held by His Majesty’s Government, then called the Government of Nepal, through the “Sadar Mulukikhana” (Central Treasury) from September 1945 through February 1960, when this responsibility was handed over to the NRB. For this purpose, the NRB had set up the Note Department in September 1956 which was renamed as the Currency Management Department in November 2002. Since taking over the responsibility of issuing the currency notes, the NRB has issued notes in denominations of Rs. 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500 and 1000. I am pleased to mention that the NRB has also issued the commemorative note of Rs. 50 to mark its Golden Jubilee. Likewise, His Majesty’s Government issued regular coins (1 paisa, 5 paisa, 10 paisa, 25 paisa, 50 paisa and Re 1) and various commemorative coins through the Mint Department, which was set up in 1932 and functioned as it was until 1983 when this responsibility was also transferred to the NRB, which has been so far minting 5 paisa, 10 paisa, 25 paisa, 50 paisa, Rs. 1, 2, 5 and Rs. 10 as regular coins and a number of other commemorative coins. To streamline the currency management function through a one-window system, the Mint Department was merged with the Currency Management Department and renamed as the Mint Division since July 2005. The NRB has also issued silver coin of Rs. 1,000 and gold coins of 2.5 gm, 5 gm and 10 gm to mark the Golden Jubilee. I take this opportunity to extend my appreciation to Mr. Shyam Agrawal (Ghiraiya), Nepalese bank note collector, and Mr. Kamal Prasad Gyawali, Assistant Director, Currency Management Department of the NRB, for their untiring efforts in the compilation of the sections on the notes and the coins respectively. The endeavor undertaken by Executive Director Mr. Tula Raj Basyal, Coordinator, Golden Jubilee Anniversary Publications Sub-Committee, and his dedicated team in bringing out this publication is highly praiseworthy. All those involved to bring out this publication deserve my special thanks. (Bijaya Nath Bhattarai) Khajanchees of Sadar Muluki Khana (Central Treasury) and their Tenure Janak Raj Pandit Bharat Raj Pandit Narendra Raj Pandit (-Jan.22,1952) (Jan.22,1952-April25,1956) Governors of Nepal Rastra Bank and their Tenure Himalaya Shumsher JBR Laxmi Nath Gautam Pradyumna Lal Rajbhandari (April26,1956-Feb.7,1961) (Feb.8,1961-June17,1965) (June18,1965-Aug.13,1966) Dr. Bhekh Bahadur Thapa Dr. Yadav Prasad Pant (August14,1966-July26,1967) (April24,1968-April18,1973) Governors of Nepal Rastra Bank and their Tenure Kul Shekhar Sharma Kalyan Bikram Adhikari Ganesh Bahadur Thapa (April29,1973-Dec.12,1978) (June13,1979-Dec.8,1984) (March25,1985-June22,1990) Hari Shankar Tripathi Satyendra Pyara Shrestha Dr. Tilak Bahadur Rawal (Aug.10,1990-Jan.17,1995) (Jan.18,1995- Jan.17,2000) (Jan.31,2000-Aug.28,2000) (April9,2001-Jan.28,2005) Dipendra Purush Dhakal Bijaya Nath Bhattarai (Aug.29,2000-April8,2001) (Jan.31,2005-) CONTENTS SECTION I : NOTES Khajanchee Janak Raj Pandit – Rs. 5, 10 & 100 1-3 Khajanchee Bharat Raj Pandit – Rs. 5, 10 & 100 4-5 Khajanchee Narendra Raj Pandit – Rs. 1, 5, 10 & 100 6-8 Governor Himalaya Shumsher JBR – Rs. 1, 5, 10 & 100 9-12 Governor Laxmi Nath Gautam – Rs. 5, 10 & 100 13-15 Governor Pradyumna Lal Rajbhandari – Rs. 10 & 100 16 Governor Dr. Bhekh Bahadur Thapa – Rs. 5, 10 & 100 17-18 Governor Dr. Yadav Prasad Pant – Rs. 1, 5, 10, 100, 500 & 1000 19-27 Governor Kul Shekhar Sharma – Rs. 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 & 1000 28-34 Governor Kalyan Bikram Adhikari – Rs. 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 & 1000 35-43 Governor Ganesh Bahadur Thapa – Rs. 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 & 1000 44-53 Governor Hari Shankar Tripathi – Rs. 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 & 1000 54-58 Governor Satyendra Pyara Shrestha – Rs. 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500 & 1000 59-68 Governor Dipendra Purush Dhakal – Rs. 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 & 1000 69-72 Governor Dr. Tilak Bahadur Rawal – Rs. 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 & 1000 73-81 Governor Bijaya Nath Bhattarai – Rs. 5, 10 & 50 82-83 Khajanchees/Governors and Denominations of Notes Issued During Their Tenure 84 SECTION II : COINS Part I : Commemorative Coins Silver Jubilee of Office of the Auditor General 85 Silver Jubilee of Family Planning Association of Nepal 85 National Population Year 86 International Youth Year 86 Social Service Day 87 Silver Jubilee of the Panchayat System 87 15th World Buddhist Conference, Nepal 88 Silver Jubilee of World Wildlife Fund 88 First Nepal Jamboree 89 Social Services Decade 89 Auspicious Ceremony of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev's Sacred Thread Bearing 90 Third SAARC Summit, Kathmandu (Coins) 90 Third SAARC Summit, Kathmandu (Medallions) 91 Golden Jubilee of Nepal Bank Limited 91 Silver Jubilee of Nepal Red Cross Society 92 Diamond Jubilee Birthday Ceremony of Her Majesty Queen Mother Ratna Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah 92 Snow Leopard Series 93 Coming of Age Ceremony of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev 94 Silver Jubilee of Nepal Children's Organisation 94 Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 95 10th Anniversary of World Food Day 96 Silver Jubilee of Rastriya Banijya Bank 96 Save the Children 97 Parliament Session of Nepal 97 Winter Olympic Games 1992, France 98 Endangered Wildlife Red Panda 98 Summer Olympic Games 1992, Barcelona 99 World Cup Football 1994, USA 99 Silver Jubilee of Rastriya Beema Sansthan 100 Silver Jubilee of Agricultural Development Bank 100 Winter Olympic Games 1992, France 101 Endangered Wildlife 101 40th Year of the Conquest of Mt. Everest 102 75th Anniversary of International Labour Organisation 103 50th Anniversary of International Monetary Fund 103 50th Anniversary of World Bank 104 Lord Buddha - Series I 104-105 Golden Jubilee Birthday Ceremony of His Majesty King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev 105 Lotus Series 106 Silver Jubilee of Nepal Disabled Association 106 Summer Olympic Games 1996, Atlanta 107 Golden Jubilee of UNICEF 107 SilverJubileeofHisMajestyKing Birendra Bir BikramShahDev'sAccession to theThrone 108 World Cup Football 1998, France 108 Lord Buddha - Series II 109 Nepal Wildlife Series 110-113 Lord Buddha - Series III 113-114 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 114 Silver Jubilee of Nepal Eye Hospital 115 International Year of the Older Persons 115 GoldenJubilee BirthdayCeremonyofHerMajestyQueenAishwarya RajyaLaxmiDeviShah 116 Golden Jubilee of Radio Nepal 116 Centenary Anniversary of Gorkhapatra 117 Living Goddess Kumari 117 Lord Buddha - Series IV 118 Golden Jubilee of St. Xavier's School 119 His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev’s Accession to the Throne 119 Lord Buddha - Series V 120 2600th Anniversary of Lord Mahabir’s Birthday 121 51st National Democracy Day 121 Golden Jubilee of Nepal Scout 122 Golden Jubilee of Nepal Chamber of Commerce 122 Golden Jubilee of Public Service Commission 123 50th Year of Management Education in Nepal 123 Golden Jubilee of the Conquest of Mt. Everest 124 Export Year 2003 125 Silver Jubilee of Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh 125 Golden Jubilee of Confederation of Industries and Commerce, Pokhara 126 Golden Jubilee of Marwadi Sewa Samiti Nepal 126 400 Years of Guru Grantha Sahib 127 Silver Jubilee of Social Service Day 127 Golden Jubilee of Madan Puraskar Guthi 128 2006 FIFA World Cup, Germany 128 Centennial Anniversary of Rotary International 129 Golden Jubilee of Nepal Rastra Bank 129 Golden Jubilee of Nepal’s Membership in United Nations 130 Silver Jubilee of World Hindu Federation 130 Part II : Regular Coins Regular Coin Series 2039 BS 131 Regular Coin Series 2051 BS 132 50th Anniversary of United Nations 133 Regular Coin Series 2053 BS 133 Visit Nepal Year 1998 134 Regular Coin Series 2058 BS 134-135 Regular Coin Series 2060 BS 135 Regular Coin Series 2062 BS 136 Regular Gold Coin Series 2043 BS 136 Regular Gold Coin Series 2051 BS 137 Regular Gold Coin Series 2058 BS 137 Acronyms/Terms 138 GLOSSARY Logo of Nepal Rastra Bank Coat of Arms Middle line in the text in Nepali script reads (adopted on December 16,1962) ASATO MA SADGAMAYA Bottom line in Nepali script reads meaning: JANANI JANMA BHOOMISCHA SWARGADAPI GARIYASI LEAD US FROM THE UNREAL (FALSITY) meaning: TO THE REAL (TRUTH) MOTHER AND MOTHERLAND ARE GREATER THAN HEAVEN The text in the centre of the Note in Nepali script reads SHREE NEPAL RASTRA BANK SHREE PANCH KO SARAKARKO JAMANAT PRAPTA YASAKO RUPAIYAN BHUKTANI MAGNA AYEMA NEPAL RASTRA BANKBATA RUPAIYAN 50 RUPAIYAN PACHAS TURUNTA PAINECHHA GUARANTEED BY HIS MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT RS. 50 RUPEES FIFTY WILL BE PAID IMMEDIATELY BY NEPAL RASTRA BANK ON DEMAND ) ! @ # $ % ^ & * Nepali Digits : EnglishDigits : 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 s v u 3 ª r 5 h em ` 6 7 8 1 Nepali Alphabets in Notes : KA KHA GA GHA NGA CHA CHHA JA JHA YNA TA THA DA GYA c cf O O{ A AA I EE Denomination of Notes ?k}+ofF Ps Re. One, ?k}+ofF b'O{ Rs.Two, ?k}+oFf kfFr Rs.Five, ?k}+ofF bz Rs.Ten, expressed in Nepali script ?k}+ofF aL; ?k}+ofF kRrL; ?k}+ofF krf; Rs.Twenty, Rs.TwentyFive, Rs.Fifty, and their translation: ?k}+ofF Ps zo Rs. One Hundred, ?k}+ofF b'Ozo krf; Rs.TwoHundredFifty, ?k}+ofF kfFr zo ?k}+ofF Ps xhf/ Rs.FiveHundred, Rs. One Thousand ObverseofCoin: ReverseofCoin: Shree Shree,Shree 5Gyanendra 64 dots similar to obverse,Middle Bir BikramShah Dev, circle reads Shree Shree Shree 64 dots around coins represent Gorakha Nath, 64Yoginies (Goddesses), Inner circle reads Religious emblems like Crescent, Shree Bhawani (Goddess Durga), Sun,Spinningwheel,Conch, Asarfi(gold coin), Nepaland Lotus,Mace and Trident, Khadga (double-edged sword) Year 2058BS