BURMA
King Mindon Min, 1853-1878
AR Kyat (31.0mm, 11.62g, 10h)
Dated 1214 Buddhist era (1852/3). Mandalay mint, with dies from Birmingham, UK
Obverse: Peacock in full display facing slightly left, တံဆိပ်တော် f (“Royal stamp”) around
Reverse: ရတနာပုံနေပြည်တော် (“Mandalay the Royal residence”) around wreath containing ၁ိသုံးဒင်္ဂါး (“Use coin as 1 kyat”) and date
References: Numista 6847
Mintage: unknown
Bright lustrous surfaces. A very popular type. From the Quentin Brisley Collection (1910-1997). Purchased May 1965 from Barkley? for $5.50.
“The Kyat coin depicts the personal emblem of the king, a peacock with a fanned out tail on the obverse side. The date depicted on this coin is 1214 CS Burmese era (1853 CE), the year King Mindon Min ascended the throne. It was widely circulated in Burma and was often called the 'peacock rupee'. Actual mintage commenced 'Saturday, 9 waning Tasaungmon (11 November, 1865). The machinery and dies for producing these silver coins were imported from Birmingham, England. These peacock coins were issued from the Mandalay Mint, which was set up within the Mandalay palace complex, the ruins of which are still in existence. In 1878, new bronze and gold coins bearing a lion motif were issued by Mindon's successor Thibaw. Thus, silver kyat production ceased.”
(from the Numista webpage; source: The Peacock Coins, Research in Burma History No. 3, Daw Ma Kyan Kran Do, 1979)
Collezione : World coins - medieval to present