Nepal Rastra Bank
Ten Rupees · Portrait of King Gyanendra · Black Deer
Historical and Issue Context
Nepalese polymer issues:The Reserve Bank of Australia lists a single Nepalese type among Note Printing Australia's export orders: the 2002 10 rupees, and records deliveries to Nepal Rastra Bank in the 2005/06 financial year.11In May 2002, The Himalayan Times described the NRB–NPA contract for 50 million 10-rupee notes as “the first of its kind in the country”.13We have not located another Nepalese denomination in polymer in a primary source, nor a historical NRB inventory that explicitly confirms it; The bank's current security sheets document rhododendron watermarked paper, not polymer.1
The last king in this polymer issue:The copy shows the portrait of King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah.7The current issues published by Nepal Rastra Bank no longer bear a royal portrait: the bank’s current security specifications document a rhododendron watermark.1The exact date on which Everest replaced the portrait in all denominations is not confirmed here in primary source.
How to distinguish it from the 2002 commemorative issue:at first glance both notes are almost identical, but this 2005 variant (Pick-54) does not carry the commemorative stripe in devanagari that appears in the 2002 issue (Pick-45) —alluding to the enthronement of King Gyanendra— and is signed by Governor Bijaya Nath Bhattarai instead of Tilak Bahadur Rawal.12
Design continuity in polymer:Nepal Rastra Bank maintained the classic design of the 10 rupee denomination — inherited from the paper issues of Kings Birendra and Gyanendra — by introducing this polymer-printed variant in 2005, replacing only the substrate to improve the durability of the lower value banknote in daily circulation.
Royal and religious symbolism:The obverse combines the figure of the monarch with that of Garud Narayan, an image carved in stone from the Changu Narayan temple —one of the oldest Hindu shrines in Nepal— linking royal authority with the country's religious tradition.
Key Details Visible on the Banknote
- Obverse:portrait of King Gyanendra in royal dress and a feathered crown, the Garud Narayan of Changu Narayan Temple, and the obverse of a coin (specimen examination).7
- Reverse:three blackbucks (“black bucks”) grazing among trees, alongside the bank logo and Nepal's coat of arms (specimen examination).8
- Transparent panel:an oval translucent window on both sides, characteristic of the polymer substrate.
- Watermark:a feathered crown visible when held to the light (specimen examination).9
- Security thread:a simulated windowed thread with the demetallized inscription “NRB” (Nepal Rastra Bank) (specimen examination).10
- Color:combination of brown, green and lilac tones, with texts in Nepali (Devanagari) and English.
Notes
1. Nepal Rastra Bank(opens in a new tab)(official site) andsecurity features of current banknotes(opens in a new tab): issuing entity; Current documented emissions are from rhododendron watermarked paper.
2. Reserve Bank of Australia, Annual Report 2006, Note Printing Australia and Securency(opens in a new tab): «Among the export deliveries were orders for ... Nepal Rastra Bank" in 2005/06. The copy does not have a printed date.
3. Examination of the copy of the collection: signature of Bijaya Nath Bhattarai, governor of Nepal Rastra Bank.
4. 133 × 70 mm is the usual catalog size for this denomination; it does not appear in the RBA reports or in the current NRB files cited here.
5. Standard Catalog of World Paper Money, Pick-54. Catalog reference, not primary source.
6. The date when the royal portrait was replaced by Everest in all denominations is not confirmed here in primary source.
7. Examination of the copy: obverse with portrait of Gyanendra, Garud Narayan of Changu Narayan and obverse of coin.
8. Examination of the specimen: reverse with three black deer, logo of the bank and coat of arms.
9. Examination of the specimen: feathered crown against the light.
10. Examination of the specimen: simulated thread windowed with demetallised NRB legend.
11. RBA, Annual Report 2003(opens in a new tab): NPA fulfilled Nepal Rastra Bank's export order; Nepal, the 21st country to emit polymer; «Securency also produced substrate for the Nepalese 10 Rupee note printed by NPA».RBA 2006(opens in a new tab): deliveries to NRB in 2005/06; The order table (excludes repetitions) lists only the 2002 Nepalese 10 rupees and does not mark it as printed overseas. The attribution to De La Rue that appears in some commercial catalogues:unconfirmed. NPA is a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of Australia, not the U.S. Federal Reserve.
12. Examination of the example (Pick-54): without commemorative stripe in Devanagari and with the signature of Bhattarai, compared to the 2002 issue (Pick-45) described in contemporary press as the first Nepalese polymer.
13. The Himalayan Times, "Plastic notes of Rs 10 to be issued by October" (May 25, 2002)(opens in a new tab): NRB–NPA contract for 50 million notes of 10 rupees, "first of its kind in the country". That figure covers the 2002 contract; The 2005 print run remainsunconfirmed.