In 2007, an unexpected, even bloodless, but revolution took place in the highest mountain country in the world. The Kingdom of Nepal has become a Federated People's Democratic Republic. The most amazing thing is that despite such a harsh event (for the first time the Nepalese people were left without a king), new people in power are trying to take good care of traditions. One of them is the rupee currency of Nepal.
Chopped mohar
Nepal is an ancient country. In any case, although it did not always have independence, it remained all the time in the sphere of influence of numerous Indian kingdoms. It was possible to slip out of the firm paws of the neighbors in the 12th century, and by the 17th to achieve the dawn. It was then that the Nepalese Mohar coin (it is believed that the Nepalese "copied" it from the legendary Videh kingdom mentioned in the Ramayama epic) also reached its authority.
The first moharas (pronunciation variants - “mohur”, “mogur”) were large coins - works of art made of gold or silver. They looked little like European coins, even of the same historical period.
“Some endless patterns, not a single inscription or numbers ...” - the European will grunt at him. In fact, there are numbers and letters. They are written in Sanskrit Devanagari.
However, at that harsh time, the cash was not really needed. The value of a coin was determined by weight. With a bargaining chip it was bad, and therefore many ancient coins did not survive to us in their entirety. They ruthlessly chopped into pieces by weight, if necessary. But it’s a pity such beauty!
As a result, moharas smaller in size and weight appeared, and in the end it came down to copper ones. Yes, and gold and silver all faded and faded. However, like the state itself. After the lost Anglo-Nepalese war (1814-1816), Nepal still remains in the margins of history. And if it were not for the eight-thousander mountains on its territory, no one would know the country at all. In general, when in 1932 the already independent Nepal decided to introduce a new currency due to inflation, the old mohar was changed to the Nepalese rupee in a ratio of 2 to 1. Moreover, they refused to shred mohara emphasized. For the new currency, the name “moss” was offered, you know, in memory of what.
Kings and banknotes
The first rupees were exclusively coins. Banknotes appeared first only in 1945. Since they were printed in India, the Nepalese rupee always looks back at the Indian. And India is the only country due to its geographical location with which Nepal is in close contact.
Then the style of the Nepalese rupee developed: not a single Arabic or Latin numeral - everything is on Devanagari.
In a prominent place is always the reigning king. The obverse of coins and banknotes of the currency of Nepal, you can get acquainted with all the kings of the country since 1945.
The other side of the banknotes demonstrated the uniqueness of the Nepalese fauna. Here we have musk deer, and yaks, and garn (this is such a goat), and zambars (and this is a deer), and buffaloes, and peacocks, and tare (but this is a ram), and rhinos, and tigers, and elephants.
By the way, during this period the country fell into another extreme. If earlier she did without banknotes, now she practically did not use coins. What can you do? Inflation.
... have erased the king
This continued until 2007, when the local parliament, which had accumulated dissatisfaction with the king’s actions (or correctly said laziness), had the idea to abolish the monarchy altogether. In January 2008, this was done.
And what happened to the rupee, which without a king, like a country without a king, never existed. Nothing, alive, like Nepal. Only on the banknotes of the “revolutionary” (although the quotation marks can be omitted because rupees are a revolution) the king’s series was “erased”, putting in its place the highest mountain of the world Jomolungma (it is also Everest). Because of this, there are still bills where the watermark depicting the king is sealed with a red rhododendron. Well, do not throw away the blanks!
Another revolution was the emergence ... of Arabic numerals (!), Which duplicate the Devangar. The gentlemen of Nepalese had no intention of entering the world market, since they supplied the currency of Nepal with a "transfer".
The country has long lived without a king. And nothing bad happened. Apparently because on the other side of the paper rupee there are still rhinoceros, tigers, elephants, yaks, tar, with a certain number of "newcomers" in the form of antelopes and deer hawks.
Face value
The denomination of the currency of Nepal can be said to be standard. We will only say that the rupee has a hundred paise. So, coins: 5, 10, 25, 50 paise and 1, 2, 5 rupees. Banknotes: 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000. The only thing now is that any stranger (with how is it there?) With the Devangari will understand the banknote of what denomination he holds in his hands, but after all they could have inflated before.
Learning Devanagari
However, just in case, we will introduce you to the figures of Devanagari, and at the same time with other systems.
The first line is Arabic in the European chart.
The second line is the Arab-Indian.
The third line is Pashtun (Urdu).
The fourth line is devanagri.
The fifth line is Tamil.
The figures of Devanagari are collected in great values like our usual ones. In general, you only need to know four digits: 0 - and in Devanagari 0, 1 - as our 9, 2 is like our two, and 5 is like our 4.
That's it, now no one will deceive you!
What is what
Due to the link to the Indian economy and the rate of the rupee legalized at the leadership level of the two states: 1 Nepalese is 1.6 Indian. India and pulls neighbors. Nepal’s money is estimated approximately as the currency of a neighboring country.
A coin of 1 Nepalese rupee in rubles does not reach a coin of the same denomination of the currency of the Russian Federation: only 58 kopecks. This price has been stable lately. American money for one rupee will be given only one cent (the rupee against the dollar is 0.0091), and the euro is even less (0.0078).
For the Nepalese themselves, the rupee seems to be turning into a mohar that has been crushed for a long time and has not disappeared only in the collections of numismatists. The country is willing to use Indian rupees and American dollars. Even if government agencies are involved in trade relations.
Here they are so special - the money of Nepal.