1/2 Rupee / Deb Period IV

Bhutan's coinage during this period was produced under the Deb Raja system, where temporal authority nominally rested with a regent while the Dharma Raja held spiritual supremacy — a dual-power structure that had governed the country since the 17th century. By the early 20th century the Deb Raja's political power had been effectively supplanted by the Wangchuck dynasty following Ugyen Wangchuck's consolidation of control after the civil conflicts of the 1880s–90s. These coins circulated under a new hereditary monarchy while still bearing the administrative nomenclature of the old theocratic order.