The ngultrum (; dz, དངུལ་ཀྲམ , symbol: Nu., code: BTN) is the

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general ...

of the Kingdom of Bhutan. It can be literally translated as 'silver' for ''ngul'' and 'coin' for ''trum''. It is subdivided into 100 chhertum ( dz, ཕྱེད་ཏམ , spelled as ''chetrums'' on coins until 1979). The

Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan The Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan ( dz, བྲུག་རྒྱལ་གཞུང་དངུལ་ལས་དབང་འཛིན་) is the central bank of Bhutan and is a member of the Asian Clearing Union. It is also the minting aut ...

, the central bank of Bhutan is the minting authority of the ngultrum banknotes and coins. The ngultrum is currently pegged to the

Indian rupee The Indian rupee ( symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency in the republic of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 ''paise'' (singular: ''paisa''), though as of 2022, coins of denomination of 1 rupee are the lowest value in use w ...

at parity.

History

Until 1789, the coins of the

Cooch Behar Cooch Behar (), or Koch Bihar, is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Cooch Behar district. It is in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas at . Cooch Behar is the only planned city in t ...

mint circulated in Bhutan. Following this, Bhutan began issuing its own coins known as ''chetrum'', mostly silver rupees. Hammered silver and copper coins were the only types issued until 1929, when modern style silver rupee coins were introduced, followed by bronze 1 paisa in 1931 (dated 1928). Nickel rupee coins were introduced in 1950. While the Cooch Behar mint coins circulated alongside Bhutan's own coins,

decimalization Decimalisation or decimalization (see spelling differences) is the conversion of a system of currency or of weights and measures to units related by powers of 10. Most countries have decimalised their currencies, converting them from non-decimal ...

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 Cupronickel or copper-nickel (CuNi) is an alloy of copper that contains nickel and strengthening elements, such as iron and manganese. The copper content typically varies from 60 to 90 percent. (Monel is a nickel-copper alloy that contains a minimu ...

. While the Bhutanese government developed its

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

in the early 1960s,

monetization Monetization ( also spelled monetisation) is, broadly speaking, the process of converting something into money. The term has a broad range of uses. In banking, the term refers to the process of converting or establishing something into legal tend ...

in 1968 led to the establishment of the

Bank of Bhutan Bank of Bhutan (BoB) is the largest and oldest commercial bank in Bhutan. It was established under the provision of the royal charter of May 1968. It was also the only central bank before the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan in 1982. It is regi ...

. 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

at par, which the Bhutanese coins had maintained. The term derives from the Dzongkha ''ngul'', "

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

" and ''trum'', a

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

loanword meaning "money." The

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

issued its first banknotes in 1974 in denominations of Nu.1, Nu.5, Nu.10 and Nu.100. This was followed by the establishment of the

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.

Coins

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.

Banknotes

Previous series

On June 2, 1974, 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. 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.

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.

Commemorative notes

Exchange rate

References

* *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. * *

External links

Analysis of Pegged Exchange Rate Between Bhutan and India

Bhutan Currecy & Banks in Bhutan

* http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/jbs/pdf/JBS_01_01_04.pdf * http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/jbs/pdf/JBS_02_02_03.pdf * https://web.archive.org/web/20120806142959/http://picasaweb.google.com/Vercrusse/Bhutan_Coins02 {{Portal bar, Asia, Money, Numismatics Economy of Bhutan Fixed exchange rate Currencies of Bhutan Currencies introduced in 1974