Peacocks Rule

In the fall of 2013, my brother and his wife held their marriage ceremonies in the city of Ahmedabad, India. The flight from the United States to India is quite long, many of our relatives live in this city, and our family stayed there for over a month. My uncle was gracious enough to let our family use his home as part of the final wedding procession that involved dancing. He lives in a small community which is lined by large trees and one afternoon I heard a peacock yelling from the trees. “Oway! Oway!” he screamed out! I looked up and saw the bird take off from a nearby tree. Seeing the national bird of India in flight was a cool sight to see and the peacock gracefully landed on a large branch about 100 feet away.

India had gained its independence from Great Britain in 1947, and newly issued coinage was set to replace coins struck under the rule of King George VI. In 1949, Patrick Brindley, an artist-engraver employed by the Bombay and Calcutta Mint, proposed numerous pattern coin designs for the Republic of India and two of them displayed peacocks. One design shows the peacock displaying its full plumage of feathers and the other coin displays a peafowl standing. Unfortunately neither of these two designs, or any other reverse designs were selected for mainstream commerce in India for the year of 1950. It wasn’t until 1991 that India released a coin with a peacock. This modern looking design was issued as a one rupee denomination in a circulation strike and a proof set titled “The Year of Tourism.”

A little over 1,000 miles to the east of India is the country formerly known as Burma, which has been renamed Myanmar since 1989. In the early 20th century, a man by the name of Aung San laid the groundwork to free Burma from British rule. During his days at Rangoon University, he became the editor of a students’ union magazine known as Oway! (Peacock’s Call). College nurtured his path to enter politics in 1938. He organized a multitude of efforts to create awareness among the people of Burma to fight for their freedom. Aung San played an instrumental role in organizing the Burmese Independence Army in 1941. By 1945, General San had organized multiple forces and fought alongside the British to defeat the Japanese. In 1947, the British government invited Aung to London for talks to discuss the path for Burma’s independence. Aung San is a national hero in Myanmar and also known as “Father of the Nation.”

Burma was an important trade route between India and China since 100 BC. Great Britain initiated the Second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852 which resulted in Mindon Min, a former buddhist monk, becoming King of Burma from 1853 to 1878. He tried to establish peace with the British and introduced the first machine-struck coinage to his people. The Heaton Mint in Great Britain had engraved and designed dies for newly issued coinage for Burma dated 1852 which was not minted until November of 1856. One of the most popular peacock coins is the silver Kyat shown above struck at the Mandalay Mint in Burma. The obverse displays a magnificent male peacock in full circular feather display and the reverse exhibits a wreath of leaves with the date in the center of the coin. In the last decade, prices for this coin have virtually gone parabolic, and sharp-looking Mint State examples could cost a collector four figures or more.

Some collectors may prefer a modern rendition of the peacock to potentially add to their collections. One example that comes to mind is the colorful Cook Islands $5 peacock coin known as the “Magnificent Life.” This limited-edition run of 999 pieces was sold out at the issue price in 2015. This one-ounce silver coin displays rich colors that showcases this magnificent bird with sharp details. As the popularity of colorized coinage continues its ascent, collectors nowadays would have to acquire this coin in the aftermarket for a premium.

The coins shown above are a few examples where nature takes on the form of metallic art. Here is a question I’ve always asked myself and maybe you have as well, “How in the world does a peacock’s feathers glow with such gorgeous iridescence?” The short answer is a phenomenon known as thin-film interference, which is defined as occurring “when light waves reflecting off the top and bottom surfaces of a thin film interfere with one another.” Ironically, the same phenomenon applies to colorfully toned coins which one could read about more in depth with a websearch. In Myanmar, the gray peacock-pheasant could represent happiness, resilience, and unity. In Hinduism, the peacock symbolizes beauty and grace. During the monsoon season, to attract a mate, peacocks elegantly dance in the rain and display their feathers. The next time you see that magnificently toned coin, maybe a peacock’s radiant colors will be in your mind’s eye. Or, one could reminisce about the four-minute dancing rendition by Gene Kelly in the 1952 classic movie Singing in the Rain that displayed grace, over and over.