1 Rupee - Gyanendra Bir Bikram

Gyanendra's 2004 rupee issues appeared just as Nepal's political situation was disintegrating around him. The Maoist insurgency had been grinding on since 1996, and in February 2005 — barely months after these coins entered circulation — Gyanendra would dissolve the government and assume direct rule, a move that accelerated his eventual deposition in 2008. Coins bearing his effigy consequently had an unusually short window of official legitimacy.

The brass-plated steel construction reflects the Nepal Rastra Bank's cost-reduction measures during a period of severe budgetary strain from the civil conflict.