2000 Rupees - Gyanendra Bir Bikram FIFA World Cup

Nepal's qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup was not the occasion here — the country has never qualified. This is a straightforward commemorative issued by Nepal Rastra Bank in the wave of World Cup-themed silver strikes that circulated among collector markets in the early 2000s, bearing the name of King Gyanendra Bir Bikram, who had assumed the throne in 2001 following the royal massacre that killed nine members of the royal family, including King Birendra.

Gyanendra's reign was politically turbulent from the start, with Maoist insurgency intensifying and a royal coup in 2005 still ahead.