View source for Nepalese rupee

{{Short description|Currency of Nepal}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox Currency
| currency_name_in_local = रुपैयाँ
| name_abbr = रु
| image_1 = Nepal NRs 1000 (front).jpg
| image_width_1 = 175px
| image_title_1 = रु.1000 banknote (obverse)
| image_2 = Nepal NRs 1000 (back).jpg
| image_width_2 = 175px
| image_title_2 = रु.1000 banknote (reverse)
| iso_code = NPR
| using_countries = '''{{Flag|Nepal}}'''
| unofficial_users = '''{{Flag|India}}''' (Indo-Nepal Border Cities)
| inflation_rate = 3.6%
| inflation_source_date = [https://www.statista.com/statistics/422594/inflation-rate-in-nepal/ Statista], 2021
| pegged_by = 
| pegged_with = [[Indian rupee]] (₹)<br />₹1 = रु1.60 (buy), रु1.6015 (sell)
| unit = Rupee
| subunit_ratio_1 = {{frac|1|100}}
| subunit_name_1 = Paisa
| symbol = रु
| symbol_subunit_1 = 
| frequently_used_coins = [[Nepalese 1-rupee coin|रु1]], [[Nepalese 2-rupee coin|रु2]]
| rarely_used_coins = [[Nepalese 1-paisa|1 paisa]], [[Nepalese 5-paisa|5 paisa]], [[Nepalese 10-paisa|10 paisa]], [[Nepalese 25-paisa|25 paisa]], [[Nepalese 50 paisa|50 paisa]]; [[Nepalese 5-rupee coin|रु5]], [[Nepalese 10-rupee coin|रु10]]
| coin_article = Coins of the Nepalese rupee
| frequently_used_banknotes = [[Nepalese five-rupee note|रु5]], [[Nepalese ten-rupee note|रु10]], [[Nepalese twenty-rupee note|रु20]], [[Nepalese fifty-rupee note|रु50]], [[Nepalese hundred-rupee note|रु100]], [[Nepalese five hundred-rupee note|रु500]], [[Nepalese thousand-rupee note|रु1000]]
| rarely_used_banknotes = [[Nepalese one-rupee note|रु1]], [[Nepalese two-rupee note|रु2]], [[Nepalese twenty-five-rupee note|रु25]], [[Nepalese two-hundred-fifty-rupee note|रु250]]
| banknote_article = Banknotes of the Nepalese rupee
| date_of_introduction = {{start date and age|1932|01|01|df=y}}
| replaced_currency = [[Nepalese mohar]]
| issuing_authority = [[Nepal Rastra Bank]]
| issuing_authority_website = {{URL|https://www.nrb.org.np|nrb.org.np}}
| printer = 
| printer_website = 
| mint = 
| mint_website = 
}}
The '''Nepalese rupee''' ({{native name|ne|नेपाली रुपैयाँ}}; [[currency sign|sign]]: '''रु'''; [[ISO 4217|code]]: '''NPR''') is the official [[currency]] and [[legal tender]] of [[Nepal]]. It is also sometimes abbreviated as '''N₨''' or '''Re./Rs.''' informally. The rupee is subdivided into 100 [[paisa]], although coins of lower denominations are rarely used today. It is issued and regulated by the [[Nepal Rastra Bank]], the central bank of Nepal.<ref>{{cite web|title=Currency and Coinage|url=https://www.nrb.org.np/finnancial/currency-and-coinage/|publisher=Nepal Rastra Bank|access-date=25 May 2025}}</ref>

The Nepalese rupee was introduced in 1932, replacing the silver-based [[mohar]] at a rate of 2 mohar = 1 rupee. Since 1994, it has been officially [[fixed exchange rate|pegged]] to the [[Indian rupee]] at a rate of रु1.60 = ₹1, having previously been pegged at रु1.45 = ₹1.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/nepal-to-keep-currency-pegged-at-to-indian-rupee/article9689230.ece |title=Nepal to keep currency pegged to Indian rupee |work=The Hindu Business Line |date=11 January 2018 |access-date=25 May 2025 |archive-date=10 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200310065324/https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/nepal-to-keep-currency-pegged-to-indian-rupee/article9689230.ece |url-status=live}}</ref>

{{As of|2024|pre=In|bare=yes}}, the Nepalese rupee is accepted for domestic transactions only within Nepal and is not legally circulated outside its borders. Foreign exchange is regulated by the central bank and subject to strict limits.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nrb.org.np/fxm/circulars/ |title=Foreign Exchange Management Circulars |publisher=Nepal Rastra Bank |access-date=25 May 2025}}</ref>

==History==
The rupee was introduced in 1932, replacing the silver [[Nepalese mohar|mohar]] at a rate of 2 mohar = 1 rupee. At first, the rupee was called the ''Mohru'' in [[Nepali language|Nepali]].<ref name="Schuler2004">{{Cite web |url=http://users.erols.com/kurrency/asia.htm |title=Tables of Modern Monetary History: Asia |last=Schuler |first=Kurt |date=2004-02-29 |access-date=2007-03-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070219231722/http://users.erols.com/kurrency/asia.htm |archive-date=2007-02-19 }}</ref>

=== The "Bullet paisa" ===
{{multiple image
 | image1 = Nepal 4 Paisa 1955 Obverse.jpg
 | image2 = Nepal 4 Paisa 1955 Reverse.jpg|
footer =Nepal, 4 Paisa 1955 - The "Bullet paisa"}}

In 1955, 4 Paisa coins were minted, made from rifle cartridge cases from [[World War II]] that were used by the [[Gurkha]] soldiers who fought against the Imperial Japanese in the Pacific. The coins were produced by removing the primer from the cases and the cases were then converted into the 4 Paisa coins to commemorate the Gurkha's courage and victory during the war.

Due to the small number of cases found, these coins were minted for one year only.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}

They are known as the "Nepal Bullet Paisa".<ref>{{cite web|title=4 Paisa - Tribhuvana Bir Bikram|url=https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces15218.html|website=Numista › Coins › Nepal › Nepal, 4 Paisa - Tribhuvana Bir Bikram|date=18 February 2021|access-date=18 February 2021|archive-date=27 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027140854/https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces15218.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Collector Club - La casa del collezionismo, I semestre 2021, inserto, pag 6 "La moneta proiettile".</ref>

===1972–2007===
[[File:Nepal five rupese coins BS 2053.jpg|thumb|Five rupees coin (BS 2053)]]

During King [[Birendra]]’s rule, one can also distinguish between two major series of banknotes. The first series features the king wearing the military uniform while on the notes of the second series the king is wearing the traditional Nepalese crown adorned with feathers of the bird of paradise. During this period regular banknotes of 2 and 20 rupees and special banknotes of 25 and 250 rupees were issued for the first time. The legends found on the last issues of Gyanendra revert to Nepal ''sarkar'' ("Nepalese government"), thus omitting the reference to the king.

===2007–Present===
[[File:One nepalese rupee coin.png|thumb|One rupee coin (2005)]]
[[File:Two nepalese rupee coin.png|thumb|Two rupee coin (2006)]]
[[File:One nepalese rupee coin.jpg|thumb|One rupee coin (2009)]]

In October 2007, a 500-''rupee'' note was issued on which the king's portrait was replaced by [[Mount Everest]]. This reflects the historic [[Abolition of monarchy|change from a monarchy to a republic]] which took place in May 2008 in Nepal. Further notes of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 1000 rupees with Mount Everest and without reference to the king in their legends followed in 2008. The first issues of the 500- and 1000-rupee notes were printed on paper which still had the king's crowned portrait as a watermark in the "window" on the right part of the face of the notes. It was decided to print a red Rhododendron flower (Nepal's national flower) on top of the watermark. Notes of these denominations which were issued in 2009 and thereafter are printed on paper which has a Rhododendron flower as watermark instead of the royal portrait and were therefore released without the additional overprint in red.

==Banknotes==
{{Main|Nepalese banknotes}}

On 17 September 1945, the government introduced [[Nepalese banknotes|banknotes]] for 5, 10 and 100 rupees, with the name mohru used in Nepalese.<ref>{{cite book |last=Linzmayer |first=Owen |title=The Banknote Book |chapter=Nepal |website=BanknoteNews.com |date=2012 |location=San Francisco, California }}</ref> There are also 250-rupee notes commemorating the [[Silver Jubilee]] of [[Birendra of Nepal|Birendra Bir Bikram Shah]] in 1997.{{citation needed|date=March 2015}}<ref>{{Cite web|title=Golden Jubilee Publications-Notes and Coins of Nepal|url=https://www.nrb.org.np/contents/uploads/2020/12/Golden_Jubilee_Publications-Notes_and_Coins_of_Nepal.pdf|website=www.nrb.org.np/|access-date=2021-11-10|archive-date=2021-11-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110011108/https://www.nrb.org.np/contents/uploads/2020/12/Golden_Jubilee_Publications-Notes_and_Coins_of_Nepal.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Since 2007, Nepalese rupee banknotes have been produced by [[Perum Peruri]], the mint company of [[Indonesia]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://majalah.tempointeraktif.com/id/arsip/2010/05/03/EB/mbm.20100503.EB133448.id.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=2010-05-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508054028/http://majalah.tempointeraktif.com/id/arsip/2010/05/03/EB/mbm.20100503.EB133448.id.html |archive-date=2017-05-08 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2012, Nepal Rastra Bank issued a revised banknote series that is similar to the 2007 series, but now include inscriptions in English and the year of issue on the back.

{|class="wikitable"
|+2012 Mount Everest series (current)
!colspan="2"| Image !!rowspan="2"| Value<br>(rupees) !!rowspan="2"| Main colours !!colspan="2"| Description !!rowspan="2"| Date of<br>issue 
|-
! Obverse !! Reverse !! Obverse !! Reverse
|-
| 
| 
| rowspan=2|5
| rowspan=2|Lilac and pink
| Mount Everest; temple of Taleju; obverse of coin
| Two [[yak]]s grazing; [[Mount Everest]]
| 2012
|-
|  style="text-align:center; background:#000;"| 
|  style="text-align:center; background:#000;"|
| Mount Everest; [[Kasthamandap]] Temple
| Yak
| 2017
|-
|  style="text-align:center; background:#000;"|
|  style="text-align:center; background:#000;"|
| rowspan=2|10
| rowspan=2|Brown and green
| rowspan=2|Mount Everest; Garud Narayan of Changu Narayan temple
| Three [[blackbuck]]s grazing; trees; bank logo
| 2012
|-
|  style="text-align:center; background:#000;"|
|  style="text-align:center; background:#000;"|
| Antelope; trees; bank logo
| 2017
|-
|  style="text-align:center; background:#000;"| 
|  style="text-align:center; background:#000;"|
| rowspan=2|20
| rowspan=2|Orange and brown
| rowspan=2|Mount Everest; temple of god Krishna of Patan; [[Garuda]] atop pillar
| [[Barasingha|Swamp deer]]; trees; mountain; bank logo
| 2012
|-
|  style="text-align:center; background:#000;"| 
|  style="text-align:center; background:#000;"|
| [[Sambar deer]]; trees; mountain; bank logo
| 2016
|-
|  style="text-align:center; background:#000;"|
|  style="text-align:center; background:#000;"|
|rowspan=2|50
|rowspan=2| Purple, green and blue
| rowspan=2|Mount Everest; [[Janaki Mandir|Rama-Janaki]] temple of Janakpur
| Male [[tahr]]; mountains; bank logo
| 2012
|-
|  style="text-align:center; background:#000;"| 
|  style="text-align:center; background:#000;"|
| [[Snow leopard]]; bank logo
| 2016
|- 
|  style="text-align:center; background:#"|
|  style="text-align:center; background:#"| 
| rowspan=2|100
| rowspan=2|Green and lilac
| rowspan=2|Mount Everest; Mayadevi inside silver metallic oval; map of Nepal; [[Pillars of Ashoka|Ashoka pillar]];<br>wood carvings from temple of [[Taleju Temple, Kathmandu|Taleju]] in Kathmandu; description "Lumbini – Birthplace of Lord Buddha"
| [[Indian rhinoceros|One-horned rhinoceros]] in grassy plain; bank logo
| 2012
|-
|  style="text-align:center; background:#"|
|  style="text-align:center; background:#"| 
| One-horned rhinoceros and its offspring in grassy plain; bank logo
| 2015
|-
|  style="text-align:center; background:#000;"|
|  style="text-align:center; background:#000;"|
| rowspan=2|500
| rowspan=2|Brown and violet
| rowspan=2|Mount Everest; god Indra; Mount Amadablam and [[Tengboche|Thyangboche monastery]]; wood carvings; clouds
| Two [[tiger]]s drinking melted snow
| 2012
|-
|  
|  
| Tiger
| 2016
|-
|  style="text-align:center;"|
|  style="text-align:center;"|
| rowspan=2|1,000
| rowspan=2|Blue, Red and Gray
| rowspan=2|Mount Everest, [[Swayambhunath|Swayambhunath Stupa]] & Harati temple
| [[Asian elephant]]
| 2013
|-
|  style="text-align:center;"|
|  style="text-align:center;"|
| Twin Asian Elephants
| 2019
|-
|colspan="7"|{{Standard banknote table notice|BrE=Y}}
|}

==Exchange rates==
Between 1857 and 1930, the Nepalese rupee (two half-rupees or mohars<ref name="Rawat1974">{{cite book|title=Indo-Nepal Economic Relations|page=130|first=Pooran Chand|last=Rawat|date=1974|publisher=[[Lawrence Verry Incorporated]]|isbn=9780842606561|quotation=The Nepalese half rupee was given the name of 'Mohar' because it bore the seal of the King.}}</ref>) was fixed at 1.28 per Indian rupee.<ref name="Schuler2004"/> After this period, its value fluctuated against the Indian rupee, falling to रु1.60 = ₹1 in 1939, rising to रु0.60 = ₹1 during the [[Second World War]] and falling again afterwards. In 1952, the government of Nepal officially pegged the Nepalese rupee at रु1.28 = ₹1, although the market rate remained at रु1.60 = ₹1.<ref name="Schuler2004" />

Between 1955 and 1957, there was a series of soft peg revaluations that started at रु1.755 = ₹1 and appreciated to रु1.305 = ₹1 by 1957. In 1958, the government applied a new exchange rate of रु1.505 = ₹1 for the purchase of plane tickets only. A hard peg of रु1.60 = ₹1 was instituted in 1960, which was revalued to रु1.0155 = ₹1 when the Indian rupee was sharply devalued on 6 June 1966.<ref name="Schuler2004"/> The Indian rupee ceased to be legal tender in Nepal in 1966.<ref name="Schuler2004" />

From 1967 to 1975, the government pegged the Nepalese rupee against the Indian rupee, the US dollar and gold, starting at रु1.35 = ₹1, रु10.125 = US$1 and रु1 = 0.08777g gold. By the time the gold peg was removed in 1978, the exchange rate was रु1.39075 = ₹1, रु12.50 = $1 and रु1 = 0.0808408g gold.<ref name="Schuler2004" />

In 1983, the Nepali rupee's anchor was changed to a trade-weighted basket of currencies, which in practice amounted to a hard peg against the Indian rupee. This remained until 1993, when the peg was officially set at रु1.60 = ₹1.<ref name="Schuler2004" />

==See also==
* [[Crore]]
* [[Economy of Nepal]]
* [[Coinage of Nepal]]

{{Exchange rate|NPR|INR|EUR|JPY|USD}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{numis cite SCWC | date=1991}}
* {{numis cite SCWPM | date=1994}}
* Agrawal (Giriya), Shyam and Gyawali, Kamal Prasad: Notes and Coins of Nepal. Nepal Rastra Bank Golden Jubilee Year 2005–06, Kathmandu, 2006.
* Bertsch, Wolfgang: "The Legends on the Banknotes of Nepal", ''International Banknote Society (IBNS) Journal'', vol. 48, no. 3, 2009, p.&nbsp;39–44.
* Jha, Hari Jaya: An Overview of Nepalese Paper Money. Manjeeta Jha, Lalitpur (Patan), B.S. 2058 (= A.D. 2001).
* Lorenzoli, Giovanni: "Nepali artistic buildings as seen on Nepali notes". Journal of the International Banknote Society, vol. 43, no. 3 (2004), p.&nbsp;6–14.
* Shrestha, Ramesh: Nepalese Coins & Bank Notes (1911 to 1955). Kazi Mudhusudan Raj Bhandary, Kathmandu, 2007.
* Wittmann, Hans: Die Banknoten des Königreichs Nepal. Unpublished, Wiesbaden, 2002.
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite web |last=Otto |first=Heiko |title=Historical and Current Banknotes of Nepal |url=https://www.bis-ans-ende-der-welt.net/Nepal-B-En.htm |access-date=2022-05-12 }}

{{Nepal topics}}
{{Rupee}}
{{Currencies of Asia}}
{{Portal bar|Asia|Money|Nepal|Numismatics}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1932 establishments in Nepal]]
[[Category:Currencies introduced in 1932]]
[[Category:Currencies of Nepal| ]]
[[Category:Economy of Nepal|Rupee, Nepalese]]
[[Category:Fixed exchange rate]]
[[Category:Currencies of Asia]]
[[Category:Circulating currencies]]
[[Category:Rupee]]