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Bhutanese ngultrum

Thengultrum(/əŋˈɡʌltrəm/;Dzongkha:དངུལ་ཀྲམ[ŋýˈʈúm],symbol:Nu.,code:BTN) is thecurrencyof theKingdom of Bhutan.It can be literally translated as 'silver' fornguland 'coin' fortrum.It is subdivided into 100 chhertum (Dzongkha:ཕྱེད་ཏམ[pt͡ɕʰɛ́ˈtám],spelled aschetrumson coins until 1979). TheRoyal Monetary Authority of Bhutan,the central bank of Bhutan is theminting authorityof the ngultrum banknotes and coins. The ngultrum is currentlypeggedto theIndian rupeeat parity.

Ngultrum
(Dzongkha)
ISO 4217
CodeBTN (numeric:064)
Subunit0.01
Unit
SymbolNu.‎
Denominations
Subunit
 1⁄100chhertum
Symbol
 chhertumCh.
BanknotesNu.1, Nu.5, Nu.10, Nu.20, Nu.50, Nu.100, Nu.500, Nu.1000[1][2]
Coins
 Rarely usedCh.5, Ch.10, Ch.25, Ch.50, Nu.1, Nu.3
Demographics
Date of introduction1974
User(s)Bhutan(alongsideIndian Rupee)
Issuance
Monetary authorityRoyal Monetary Authority of Bhutan
 Websitewww.rma.org.bt
Valuation
Inflation5.2%
 SourceRoyal Monetary Authority of Bhutan,2015 est.
Pegged withIndiaIndian rupee(at par)
This article containsTibetan script.Without properrendering support,you may see very small fonts, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead ofTibetan characters.

History

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Until 1789, the coins of theCooch Beharmint circulated in Bhutan.[3]Following this, Bhutan began issuing its own coins known aschetrum,mostly silver1⁄2rupees. Hammered silver and copper coins were the only types issued until 1929, when modern style silver1⁄2rupee coins were introduced, followed by bronze 1 paisa in 1931 (dated 1928). Nickel1⁄2rupee coins were introduced in 1950. While the Cooch Behar mint coins circulated alongside Bhutan's own coins,decimalizationwas introduced in 1957, when Bhutan's first issue of coins denominated innaya paisa.The 1966 issues were 25 naya paisa, 50 naya paisa and 1 rupee coins, struck incupro-nickel.[4]

While theBhutanese governmentdeveloped itseconomyin the early 1960s,monetizationin 1968 led to the establishment of theBank of Bhutan.As monetary reforms took place in 1974, the Ngultrum was officially introduced as 100 Chhetrum equal to 1 Ngultrum. The Ngultrum retained the peg to theIndian rupeeat par, which the Bhutanese coins had maintained.[5]

The term derives from theDzongkhangul,"silver"andtrum,aHindiloanword meaning "money."[6]

TheMinistry of Financeissued its first banknotes in 1974 in denominations of Nu.1, Nu.5, Nu.10 and Nu.100. This was followed by the establishment of theRoyal Monetary Authority of Bhutanas the central bank of Bhutan in 1982, which took over the authority to issue banknotes in 1983, replacing the authority of the Ministry of Finance.[7]

Coins

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In 1974, aluminum Ch.5 and Ch.10, aluminium-bronze Ch.20, and cupro-nickel Ch.25 and Nu.1 were introduced. The Ch.5 was square and the Ch.10 was scallop-shaped. A new coinage was introduced in 1979, consisting of bronze Ch.5 and Ch.10, and cupro-nickel Ch.25 and Ch.50 and Nu.1 and Nu.3. Aluminium-bronze Ch.25 was also issued dated 1979. Ch.5 and Ch.10 have largely ceased circulating. Currently, coins are available in denominations of Ch.20, Ch.25, Ch.50 and Nu.1.

Image Value Technical parameters Description Date of
Diameter Thickness Weight Edge Obverse Reverse issue withdrawal
Ch.20 22.00 mm 1.8 mm 4.5 g Reeded Man working in field.
Lettering:ཀུན་ལ་བཟའ་བཏུངFOOD FOR ALL 		Lesser Version ofCoat of Arms
Lettering:འབྲུགBHUTAN CHETRUMS 20ཕྱེད་ཊམ 		1974 Current
Ch.25 22.20 mm 1.8 mm 4.6 g Reeded Golden fishes of good fortune.
Lettering: ROYAL GOVERNMENT OF BHUTAN 		Dorje(a double diamond-thunderbolt) is a part ofCoat of Armsand represents the harmony between secular and religious power
Lettering:ཕྱེད་ཀྲམ་ཉེར་ལྔ།TWENTY-FIVE CHHERTUM 		1979 Current
Ch.50 25.85 mm 1.8 mm 6.9 g Reeded Treasure vase (One of the 8 Revered Buddhist Symbols).
Lettering: ROYAL GOVERNMENT OF BHUTAN 		Eight Various Revered Buddhist Symbols & in the center is the wordའབྲུག(BHUTAN)
Lettering:ཕྱེད་ཀྲམ་ལྔ་བཅུ།FIFTY CHHERTUM. 		1979 Current
Nu.1 27.95 mm 1.7 mm 8.2 g Reeded Coat of Armswithin circle, date below Elaborate designed Wheel of Dharma on a Lotus.
Lettering: ROYAL GOVERNMENT OF BHUTAN 		Coin divided into nine sections within circle, each has symbol, denomination below Eight Various Revered Buddhist Symbols & in the center is the wordའབྲུག
Lettering:དངུལ་ཀྲམ་གཅིག།ONE NGULTRUM 		1979 Current

Banknotes

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Previous series

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On June 2, 1974,[8]Nu.1, Nu.5 and Nu.10 notes were introduced by the Royal Government of Bhutan, followed by Nu.2, Nu.20, Nu.50, and Nu.100 in 1978.[8]On August 4, 1982, the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan Act was enacted, although the RMA did not begin operations until November 1, 1983, and did not issue its own family of notes until 1986.[8]

Previous series[1]
Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description
Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse Watermark
Nu.1 114 x 62 mm Blue The Government crest, two dragons Simtokha Dzong "Royal Monetary Authority" in top and bottom margin
Nu.5 130 × 62 mm Orange The Government crest, two mythical bird (Bja Tshering) (the bird of long life) Paro Rinpung Dzong
Nu.10 140 × 70 mm Purple The Government crest, Dungkar (conch) (one of the eight lucky signs),Jigme Singye Wangchuck
Nu.20 152 × 70 mm Yellow-green The Government crest, Khorlo (Wheel of Dharma, one of the eight auspicious signs),Jigme Dorji Wangchuck Punakha Dzong
Nu.50 155 × 70 mm Pink Trongsa Dzong,two mythical birds Bja Tshering (bird of long life)
Nu.100 161 × 70 mm Green Norbu Rimpochhe (one of the seven auspicious gems),Jigme Singye Wangchuck Tashichho Dzong Crossed Dorji (Dorji jardrum)
Nu.500 160 × 70 mm Red Norbu Rimpochhe encircled by two Dragons (one of the seven auspicious gems),Ugyen Wangchuck Punakha Dzong
For table standards, see thebanknote specification table.

Present series

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In 2006, the Monetary Authority introduced its latest series of notes, with denominations of Nu.1, Nu.5, Nu.10, Nu.20, Nu.50, Nu.100, Nu.500, and Nu.1000. These notes use a hybrid substrate.[9]

2006–present Series
Image Value Dimensions Main Color Description Date of issue Date of first issue Watermark
Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse
[2] [3] Nu.1 120 x 60 mm Blue, red and green Dragons flankingWheel of Dharma Simtokha Dzong 2006
2013 		November 20, 2006 None
[4] [5] Nu.5 125 x 60 mm Yellow, brown and red Birds Paro Taktsang 2006
2011
2015 		November 20, 2006 None
[6] [7] Nu.10 125 x 65 mm Purple, dark green and yellow Jigme Singye Wangchuck;Dungkar (conch), one of the eight good luck symbols ParoRinpung Dzong 2006
2013 		2007 Jigme Singye Wangchuck
[8] [9] Nu.20 130 x 65 mm Yellow and green Jigme Dorji Wangchuck Punakha Dzong 2006
2013 		November 20, 2006 Jigme Dorji Wangchuck
[10] [11] Nu.50 145 x 70 mm Pink, orange and green Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck Trongsa Dzong 2008
2013 		November 6, 2008 Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck
[12] [13] Nu.100 145 x 70 mm Green Jigme Singye Wangchuck;Norbu Rimpochhe, one of the seven auspicious gems Tashichho Dzong,dragons in upper corners 2006
2011
2015 		2007 Jigme Singye Wangchuck
[14] [15] Nu.500 155 x 70 mm Pink, orange and green Ugyen Wangchuckwith theRaven Crown Punakha Dzong 2006
2011 		November 20, 2006 Jigme Singye Wangchuk
[16] [17] Nu.1000 165 x 70 mm Yellow, red and gold Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuckwith theRaven Crown Tashichho Dzong 2008
2016 		November 6, 2008 Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck
For table standards, see thebanknote specification table.

Commemorative notes

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Commemorative notes
Image Value Dimensions Main Color Description Date of issue Date of first issue Watermark
Obverse Reverse
[18] Nu.100 145 x 70 mm Orange, brown and red Mythical angel carrying theRaven Crown;national emblem;royal wedding logo consisting of khorlo (wheel) signifying royalty, circles with dhar (ceremonial scarf) signifying eternal union of thap (method) and sherab (wisdom), and the dham tshig tsangma and lotus, symbolizing purity of union;Jigme Khesar Namgyel WangchuckandQueen Jetsun Pema Punakha Dzong(aka Pungtang Dechen Photrang Dzong, meaning “the palace of great happiness or bliss” ) 2011 October 13, 2011 None
[19] Nu.100 146 x 70 mm Yellow, gold, blue, and red King Jigme Khesar Namgyel WangchuckandQueen Jetsun Pema;Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck Mountains; dragon February 5, 2016 2017 Jigme Singye Wangchuck with electrotype swirl
For table standards, see thebanknote specification table.

Exchange rate

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Current BTN exchange rates
FromGoogle Finance: AUDCADCHFCNYEURGBPHKDJPYUSDJPYUSD
FromYahoo! Finance: AUDCADCHFCNYEURGBPHKDJPYUSDJPYUSD
FromXE.com: AUDCADCHFCNYEURGBPHKDJPYUSDJPYUSD
From OANDA: AUDCADCHFCNYEURGBPHKDJPYUSDJPYUSD

See also

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References

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  1. ^"BanknoteNews – Breaking news about world paper money. Powered by the Banknote Book".banknotenews.com.Archived fromthe originalon 2016-01-25.Retrieved2008-11-13.
  2. ^Bhutan issues new 50- and 1,000-ngultrum notesArchived2016-03-05 at theWayback MachineBanknoteNews.com. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
  3. ^"Old Coins of Bhutan".Mintage World.Retrieved10 October2021.
  4. ^"Currency Information: Bhutanese Rupee".ExchangeRate.com.Retrieved29 September2016.This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under aCreative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License.
  5. ^"Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan - History".rma.org.bt.Retrieved17 April2021.
  6. ^Berlin, Howard M. (24 October 2008).World Monetary Units: An Historical Dictionary, Country by Country.McFarland.ISBN9781476606736– via Google Books.
  7. ^"Royal Monetary Authority Act of Bhutan 1982"(PDF).Government of Bhutan.1982.Retrieved2010-10-08.
  8. ^abcLinzmayer, Owen (2011). "Bhutan".The Banknote Book.San Francisco, CA: BanknoteNews.com.Retrieved2011-08-21.
  9. ^"Bhutan - Banknote News".www.banknotenews.com.Archived fromthe originalon 5 April 2018.Retrieved12 April2018.
  • Krause, Chester L.; Clifford Mishler (1991).Standard Catalog of World Coins:1801–1991(18th ed.). Krause Publications.ISBN0873411501.
  • Panish, Charles K: "Early Coinage of Bhutan".The American Numismatic Society, Museum Notes 17,New York 1971, p. 247-254 and plates XLVII-XLVIII.
  • Rhodes, Nicholas:The Coinage of Bhutan.Oriental Numismatic Society, Information Sheet no 16, January 1977.
  • Rhodes, Nicholas: "Coinage in Bhutan".Journal of Bhutan Studies..The Centre of Bhutan Studies, vol. 1, no. 1, Thimphu, Autumn, 1999, p. 84-113.
  • Rhodes, Nicholas: "The Monetisation of Bhutan".Journal of Bhutan Studies..The Centre of Bhutan Studies, vol. 2, no. 1, Thimphu, Winter 2000, p. 85-103.
  • Krause, Chester L.; Clifford Mishler (1991).Standard Catalog of World Coins:1801–1991(18th ed.). Krause Publications.ISBN0873411501.
  • Pick, Albert (1994).Standard Catalog of World Paper Money:General Issues.Colin R. Bruce II and Neil Shafer (editors) (7th ed.). Krause Publications.ISBN0-87341-207-9.
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