Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1/2 Rupee / Deb Period III
| Issuer | Bhutan |
|---|---|
| Year | 1885-1910 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Tibetan |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Bhutan's coinage during this period was produced by local craftsmen using hand-struck methods, resulting in substantial variation in flan preparation, strike alignment, and metal composition — which explains why the copper/brass ambiguity persists in the reference literature. The Deb Raja system, under which these were issued, was a theocratic administrative structure that ran parallel to the Dharma Raja's religious authority, and it was already weakening by the 1880s under increasing British pressure from India.
The series ended as Bhutan's political structure was fundamentally reorganized following Ugyen Wangchuck's consolidation of power, which culminated in the hereditary monarchy established in 1907.