Nepal's 2003 Asarphi gold issues were produced under Gyanendra Shah, who had assumed the throne in controversial circumstances following the 2001 royal massacre that killed King Birendra and eight other members of the royal family. Gyanendra's reign was politically turbulent from the start, running parallel to an intensifying Maoist insurgency that had been grinding through the country since 1996.
The .9999 fineness places this among Nepal Rastra Bank's highest-purity gold issues of the period — a specification driven by export and collector market expectations rather than domestic monetary demand.
Nepal's 2003 Asarphi gold issues were produced under Gyanendra Shah, who had assumed the throne in controversial circumstances following the 2001 royal massacre that killed King Birendra and eight other members of the royal family. Gyanendra's reign was politically turbulent from the start, running parallel to an intensifying Maoist insurgency that had been grinding through the country since 1996.
The .9999 fineness places this among Nepal Rastra Bank's highest-purity gold issues of the period — a specification driven by export and collector market expectations rather than domestic monetary demand.