Bhutanese ngultrum

The ngultrum (/əŋˈɡʌltrəm/; Dzongkha: དངུལ་ཀྲམ [ŋýˈʈúm], symbol: Nu., code: BTN) is the currency of the Kingdom of Bhutan. It is subdivided into 100 chhertum (Dzongkha: ཕྱེད་ཏམ [pt͡ɕʰɛ́ˈtám], spelled as chetrums on coins until 1979). The Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan is the minting authority of the ngultrum banknotes and coins. The ngultrum is currently pegged to the Indian rupee at parity.

Bhutanese ngultrum
ISO 4217
CodeBTN
Denominations
Subunit
 1/100chhertum
SymbolNu.
 chhertumCh.
BanknotesNu.1, Nu.5, Nu.10, Nu.20, Nu.50, Nu.100, Nu.500, Nu.1000[1][2]
Coins
 Freq. usedCh.20, Ch.25, Ch.50, Nu.1.
 Rarely usedCh.5, Ch.10
Demographics
User(s) Bhutan (alongside Indian Rupee)
Issuance
Monetary authorityRoyal Monetary Authority of Bhutan
 Websitewww.rma.org.bt
Valuation
Inflation5.2%
 SourceRoyal Monetary Authority of Bhutan, 2015 est.
Pegged with Indian rupee at par

History

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

While the Bhutanese government developed its economy in the early 1960s, monetization in 1968 led to the establishment of the Bank 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 the Indian rupee at par, which the Bhutanese coins had maintained.[4]

The term derives from the Dzongkha ngul, "silver" and trum, a Hindi loanword meaning "money."[5]

The Ministry of Finance issued the first banknotes in 1974 denominated Nu.1, Nu.5, Nu.10 and Nu.100. This followed by the establishment of the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan as 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.[6]

Coins

In 1974, aluminium 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 were also issued dated 1979. The 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.

ImageValueTechnical parametersDescriptionDate of
DiameterThicknessWeightEdgeObverseReverseissuewithdrawal
Ch.20 22.00 mm 1.8 mm 4.5 g Reeded Man working in field.
Lettering: ཀུན་ལ་བཟའ་བདུང FOOD FOR ALL		 Lesser Version of Coat of Arms
Lettering: འབྲུག BHUTAN CHETRUMS 20 ཕྱེད་ཏམ		 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 of Coat of Arms and represents the harmony between secular and religious power
Lettering: ཕྱེད་ཏམ་ཉརེ་འྔ 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 Symbol).
Lettering: ROYAL GOVERNMENT OF BHUTAN		 Eight Various Revered Buddhist Symbols & in the center is the word འབྲུག (BHUTAN)
Lettering: ཕྱེད་ཏམ་ལྔབ FIFTY CHHERTUM.		 1979 Current
Nu.1 27.95 mm 1.7 mm 8.2 g Reeded Coat of Arms within 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 word འབྲུག
Lettering: དངུལ་ཀྲམ་གནྑག ONE NGULTRUM		 1979 Current

Banknotes

Previous series

On June 2, 1974,[7] 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.[7] 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.[7]

Previous series
ImageValueDimensionsMain ColourDescription
ObverseReverseObverseReverseWatermark
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 the banknote specification table.

Present series

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.[8]

2006–present Series
ImageValueDimensionsMain ColorDescriptionDate of issueDate of first issueWatermark
ObverseReverseObverseReverse
Nu.1 120 x 60 mm Blue, red and green Dragons Simtokha Dzong 2006
2013		 November 20, 2006 None
Nu.5 125 x 60 mm Yellow, brown and red Birds Taktsang 2006
2011
2015		 November 20, 2006 None
Nu.10 125 x 65 mm Dark green and yellow Jigme Singye Wangchuck; Dungkar (conch), one of the eight good luck symbols Paro Rinpung Dzong 2006
2013		 2007 Jigme Singye Wangchuck
Nu.20 130 x 65 mm Yellow and green Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck Punakha Dzong 2006
2013		 November 20, 2006 Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck
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
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
Nu.500 155 x 70 mm Pink, orange and green Ugyen Wangchuck with the Raven Crown Punakha Dzong 2006
2011		 November 20, 2006 Jigme Singye Wangchuk
Nu.1000 165 x 70 mm Yellow, red and gold Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck with the Raven Crown Tashichho Dzong 2008
2016		 November 6, 2008 Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck
For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

Commemorative notes
Commemorative notes
ImageValueDimensionsMain ColorDescriptionDate of issueDate of first issueWatermark
ObverseReverse
Nu.100 145 x 70 mm Orange, brown and red Mythical angel carrying the Raven 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 Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema Punakha Dzong (aka Pungtang Dechen Photrang Dzong, meaning “the palace of great happiness or bliss”) 2011 October 13, 2011 None
Nu.100 146 x 70 mm Yellow, gold, blue, and red King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema; Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck Mountains; dragon February 5, 2016 2017 Jigme Singye Wangchuck with electrotype swirl
For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

Exchange rate
Current BTN exchange rates
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From fxtop.com: AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
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See also

References
  1. , accessed 2008-11-13
  2. Bhutan issues new 50- and 1,000-ngultrum notes BanknoteNews.com. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
  3. "Currency Information: Bhutanese Rupee". ExchangeRate.com. Retrieved 29 September 2016. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License.
  4. "Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan - History". rma.org.bt. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  5. Berlin, Howard M. (24 October 2008). "World Monetary Units: An Historical Dictionary, Country by Country". McFarland – via Google Books.
  6. "Royal Monetary Authority Act of Bhutan 1982" (PDF). Government of Bhutan. 1982. Retrieved 2010-10-08.
  7. Linzmayer, Owen (2011). "Bhutan". The Banknote Book. San Francisco, CA: BanknoteNews.com. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
  8. "Bhutan - Banknote News". www.banknotenews.com. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  • Krause, Chester L.; Clifford Mishler (1991). Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1801–1991 (18th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0873411501.
  • 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. ISBN 0873411501.
  • Pick, Albert (1994). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: General Issues. Colin R. Bruce II and Neil Shafer (editors) (7th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-207-9.
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