1/4 Pe - Mindon Min

Mindon Min established the Royal Mint at Mandalay in 1861 — the first indigenous coinage system Burma had operated in centuries — specifically to resist the economic encroachment of British Indian currency spreading northward from Lower Burma following the Second Anglo-Burmese War. The 1865 copper issues circulated almost exclusively in Upper Burma, the rump kingdom Mindon still controlled, and saw relatively limited use because traditional cowrie shells and imported coin remained deeply embedded in local trade.

KM#17 is among the more obtainable denominations from this mint, though copper survivors with unimpaired surfaces are less common than the silver issues, owing to the climate of the Irrawaddy basin.