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DECEMBER, 1897.] CURRENCY AND COINAGE AMONG THE BURMESE.
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a prefis denoting "seaborne." So he has taken his indigenous term for one-fourth and used it for one-third in this instance from motivos of obvious convenience. And thus he has called the pie mat-pya, or quarter-piece, which it is not in reality. Having done this, he uses the term mit-pyd to differentiate the pie and the pice (rya): tbus: -Tabyd is one-pice, but matpyi tabya is one-pie, Pies are enumerated, as in India, up to twelve to the anna, i, e., up to 11 pie.
As might be expected, there are, however, variant ways of expressing British Indian copper money. Thus, Gordon, Companion to Hand-boole of Colloquial Burmese, 1886, p. 104, gives us, “one pie, tabaing," and a table :
3 baing 1 pai’sản 4 pai'sân 1 pe
16 pè 1 kyat Again, Slack, Manual of Burmese, 1888, givee, p. 10 :
1 pie tabaik 1 anna tabe 3 pie bôngbaik 12 pie s'ena'paik
16 annas s'echaa'pè I may here note an interesting and in every way valuable fact for our present parpose from the copper coinage of King Mindôn.59 He adapted his coinage to that of British India, and made his copper pieces, or pice, one-fourth of a pé, trrating the pè as an anna, which as a con it was not in reality, being the 20th and not the 16th part of his dingá or rapee. As he used the decimal system of mit in his coinage, (6 ywéji or) 12 y we went to the pe, and thus he managed to make his yw correspond to the Indian pie. This is proved by the inscription on Mindon’s “peacock" copper coins :=“1 pà bông đi ngã 4 4 bộ • talồn, coin current as onefourth part of 1 p!:"and condirmed by the "lion" copper coins of his snccessor King Thibo, who inscribed them thus: - *1 3.21 bing dingd 8 pin tabón, coin current as one-eighth part of 1 m;" equal to one-fourth part of 1 pe.
The chief authorities, after Latter on this subject are Judson's Grammar, 1852,89 and Ed. 1888 ; Spearman's British Burma Gazetteer, 1870; Browne's Thayetmyo District, 1872, and Cooke's British Burma Manual, 1879: the last three being official publications.cu
Judson (p. xxxiv. of the 1852 Ed. and pp. 60-61 of the 1888 Ed.) produces for ns the following table :
2 chinywe are 1 ywêjt 3 ywêjt i pe 4 » 1 pèjî 4 pèji » 1 màt 5 pd » 1 »
4 mát 1 kyat 100 kyat 1 pokba 10 (or more tens) pêkbå are counted as so many (a)k'wet
88 To be described at leugtha later on.
50 The edition of 1863 omits all reference to weights, measures and money. It is to be regretted that missionary books so often do this. Reflection will shew, that however far removed from their avowed work in life, money mat. ters must occupy the attention of all honest men, in so far, at any rate, as the necessary daily buying and selling is concerned, and are therefore worthy of a place in all books on language.
40 Yule, Apa, only incidentally mentions bullion weights and measures at p. 259, and says 160 yuda - 1 tickal: 20 ns 1 tickal ; calling yte the seed of the Abrus procatorius. He thus mixes up the scales, probably through a inisunderstanding.
