In my post on the March of Money, some information were left out. And there were some inaccuracies. Please refer to my post: The March of Money: Part VI
The list of terms we used for our money was incomplete. The list has since been updated as follows:
Maar-trum - red coin or copper coin
Zung-trum - bronze coin
Ser-trum - gold coin
Debai Tikchung - silver coin
Tiru - money
Thala - half money
Shiki - quarter money
Ngultrum - silver coin
Chetrum - half coin
The most extensively used coin before the paper money came into being in 1974 was the Thala which was denominated “Jatrum Ched” and coined since 1928. Going by how the term was spelt, the literal translation of this term would be: “Ja (Jaga) Trum (Coin) Ched (Half)” meaning Half Indian Rupee.
A knowledgeable senior citizen argues that the terms "Ngultrum" and "Chetrum" should have never been coined and applied to our currency. According to him, it is incorrect. He explained that "Ngultrum" means "Silver Coin" and "Chetrum" means "Half Coin". According to him, paper money is not coin and half coin cannot be a unit of currency.
Another knowledgeable person I spoke to said that our paper money should rightly be called “Shoglor” meaning Shog (paper) Lor (money).
The other very popular silver coin that was in use those days was the "Boetrum". I removed it from the above list since I realized that "Boe" means Tibet. So it is not our coin. I pointed this out to some one in our National Museum, Paro, when I went there to look at their collection of coins and found that the Boetrum was on display in their display case.
Tibetan silver coin that was known as Boetrum
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