1/2 Rupee / Deb Period III

Bhutan's coinage during this stretch was issued with no fixed mint infrastructure — pieces were struck by hand using local tools, which accounts for the dramatic variation in flan preparation and strike quality seen across survivors. The "Deb" designation references the Druk Desi, the secular ruler who held administrative authority alongside the Je Khenpo throughout the theocratic dual-governance system that defined Bhutanese rule until the monarchy's establishment in 1907.

The fifty-year window assigned to this type reflects scholarly inference rather than dated records — Bhutan kept no systematic mint accounts during this period.