10 Ngultrum

The Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan was established only in 1982, giving it one of the shorter institutional histories among Asian central banks. The 2000-dated 10 Ngultrum falls within a period when Bhutan's currency infrastructure was still maturing — the ngultrum itself had only achieved formal parity status relative to the Indian rupee in 1974, and Indian rupees continued to circulate freely alongside it in Bhutan well into the 2000s, which limited domestic demand for low-denomination ngultrum notes.

Thomas De La Rue's involvement dates back to the earliest Royal Monetary Authority issues, making them the consistent printer for the series through this period.