1000 Ngultrums - Jigme Singye Wonders of the World - Taj Mahal

Bhutan's "Wonders of the World" gold series, issued through the Royal Monetary Authority in the early 2000s, was produced explicitly for the collector export market — none of these pieces entered domestic circulation in any meaningful sense. The Taj Mahal subject is notable given that Bhutan and India share a relationship closer than most sovereign neighbors: under the 1949 Treaty of Friendship, India effectively guided Bhutanese foreign policy until a revised treaty in 2007.

KM#173 is part of a multi-subject run sharing identical specifications, struck at a foreign facility rather than domestically.