5 Mu - Mindon Min

Mindon Min established the Royal Burmese Mint at Mandalay in 1853 — the same year this coin was struck — making it among the earliest products of Burma's first modern indigenous mint. The decision to mint silver coinage was partly a political one: with British forces having just seized Lower Burma following the Second Anglo-Burmese War, Mindon Min needed to assert the economic coherence of the remaining Konbaung kingdom in the north.

The 5 Mu denomination sits at the top of the silver series Mindon introduced. KM#9 pieces from this inaugural year are notably scarcer than later dates in the type.