Nepal 1, 2, 5, and 10 Paisa 1957 to 1966

Probably best known for its access to Mount Everest, Nepal (officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal) is a landlocked country in South Asia bordered by the People's Republic of China and the Republic of India.

The trident symbol on the 1, 2, 5, and 10 paisa coins is, I believe, associated with Buddhism.

The date is intriquing, of course. You have to know two things to transform it to a Western (Gregorian) date. First, you have to know the numeric characters, shown here. (There are others found on Nepalese coins which are not in our figure.) Then you have to know that Nepalese coins use three different dating systems: the NS and SE systems before 1888AD, and the Vikrama Samvat (VS) system after. (This is an oversimplification.) To find the AD date from the VS date, subtract 57 years.

Coins in our pictured series run from 1957 to 1966 AD, which corresponds to 2014 to 2023 VS, so they are all modern coins.

Since these are modern coins, they are not worth very much to collectors. However, their unusual origins and exotic character appeal to many collectors and they are willing to pay a premium for coins from Nepal. The coin in our photo comes from one of our favorite eBay sellers SivesaCoin. It is in such beautiful condition it will probably draw $3 or $5 US dollars at auction.

The third small graphic here comes from the face of a 10 paisa coin. No, not 90. 10!

The 1957 and 1959 AD 10 paisa are somewhat rare. They catalog for $15 US dollars in well preserved condition. We will leave it to the reader to figure out the VS dates for 1957 and 1959. Hope you have one!
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