10 Ngultrum

The Royal Monetary Authority was established only in 1982, making this series among the earliest issues from a central banking authority that was itself barely a decade old when the note entered circulation. Bhutan had no formal paper currency system at all until 1974 — the Ngultrum replaced a barter-adjacent economy where Indian rupees served as the principal medium of exchange, and INR remained legal tender in Bhutan well into this note's production window.

De La Rue's involvement was consistent across Bhutan's early issues, a relationship typical of newly independent monetary authorities contracting out security printing while domestic infrastructure remained undeveloped.