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50 Rupees - Birendra Bir Bikram Tiger
| Issuer | Nepal Rastra Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1998 |
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| Reference(s) | KM#1145 |
| Obverse description | Central field features an ornate cruciform yantra-style design incorporating the royal name and titles of King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev in Devanagari script, arranged within a divided rectangular panel. A trident symbol occupies the central medallion of the cross. Surrounding the central device are four auspicious Hindu symbols — a sun wheel, a conch shell, a lotus flower, and a ceremonial mace — positioned at the cardinal quadrants. The double honorific legend 'श्री श्री' appears at the top, flanked by a crescent moon and a sun, and the Vikrama Samvat date 2055 is inscribed at the base. The entire composition is enclosed within a beaded outer border. |
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| Obverse lettering | श्री श्री श्री ५ वीरेन्द्र वीर विक्रम शाह देव २०५५ |
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| Additional information |
Nepal issued this 50-rupee piece during a period of sustained Maoist insurgency that had begun two years earlier in 1996, a conflict that would eventually claim over 17,000 lives and end the Shah monarchy itself. Birendra, the issuing monarch, was killed in the royal massacre of June 2001 along with most of the royal family — making coins bearing his portrait relics of a dynasty that collapsed violently and within just a few years of this issue.
The Bengal tiger depicted was already under severe poaching pressure in Nepal's Terai lowlands at the time of minting. Chitwan National Park's tiger population had dropped sharply through the 1990s.