₨5 — Five Rupees
The artwork
Front: King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev at left, in dark tunic and spectacles, wearing the plumed royal crown with its long white bird-of-paradise spray. The centre panel carries the issuer's name and the guarantee clause in Devanagari above a three-tiered pagoda temple raised on a stepped plinth, its gilt roof finial and carved struts picked out in colour. The bank's circular seal sits top right; matching Devanagari serials run below.
Back: Two long-haired yaks graze on rough highland pasture, one facing the viewer, before a range of snow-covered Himalayan peaks engraved in fine grey line. At upper right, the old royal arms of Nepal — crossed khukuri knives beneath the crown, flanked by a Gurkha soldier and a hill man, with mountains and footprints on the shield. The lower band reads रूपैयाँ पाँच and RUPEES FIVE.-rupupee.era pink frame throughout.
In circulation
An issue of the long Birendra series, in which the king appears crowned rather than in the earlier uniformed portrait, and which stayed in use through the 1990s. Notes bearing Birendra's likeness gave way to Gyanendra portraits after 2001, and royal portraits vanished altogether from Nepalese currency after the monarchy ended, replaced by Mount Everest.
Details
- IssuerNepal Rastra Bank (नेपाल राष्ट्र बैंक), under guarantee of His Majesty's Government
- CurrencyRupee (₨)
- DenominationFive Rupees
- Collectedon the Nepal journeys, 1993–2014
- SeriesBirendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, crowned portrait
- WatermarkPlumed royal crown (Shri Pech)
- SignatureOne signature, Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank
- SecurityDevanagari serial prefix and numerals, repeated left and right