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20 Kyats 1958, Myanmar

in Krause book Number: 50a
Years of issue: 21.08.1958 - 17.05.1964
Edition:
Signatures: Managing director, on behalf of Union Bank of Burma: San Lin
Serie: 1958 Issue
Specimen of: 1958
Material: Cotton fiber
Size (mm): 149 х 86
Printer: TDLR (Thomas de la Rue & Company), London

* All pictures marked magnify are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.

** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.

20 Kyats 1958

Description

Watermark:

watermark

General Aung San - the photo is the same as photo on obverse.

Avers:

20 Kyats 1958

Along the borders of banknote are the traditional Burmese Arabesque style pattern.

The Arabesque used as a term in European art, including Byzantine art, is, on one definition, a decorative motif comprising a flowing and voluted formalistic acanthus composition. It is generally simpler than the Arabesque in Islamic art, and does not involve elements that cross over each other.

In the upper corners are lotus leaves.

Aung San Aung San

The engraving on banknote is made after this photo of General Aung San, made in January 1947, while he visited London.

Bogyoke (Major General) Aung San (13 February 1915, Namau - 19 July 1947, Rangun) served as the 5th Premier of the British Crown Colony of Burma from 1946 to 1947. Initially he was a communist and later a social democratic politician. He was known as a revolutionary, nationalist, and as the founder of the Tatmadaw, and is considered the Father of the Nation of modern-day Myanmar. He was the founder of the Communist Party of Burma.

He was responsible for bringing about Burma's independence from British rule, but was assassinated six months before independence. He is recognized as the leading architect of independence, and the founder of the Union of Burma. Affectionately known as "Bogyoke" (Major General), Aung San is still widely admired by the Burmese people, and his name is still invoked in Burmese politics to this day.

Aung San's daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi, is a Burmese stateswoman and politician and a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize who is now serving as State Counsellor and 20th and First Female Minister of Foreign Affairs in Htin Kyaw's Cabinet.

In the top center "pyidaung zu myanma naing ngan daw ban" written in Burmese signify the Royal Union of Burma States Bank. Underneath it, in the bottom center "at all places where bank notes are issued this note can be exchanged for 20 kyats" is also written in Burmese.

Denominations in numerals are in all corners. Centered in words.

Revers:

20 Kyats 1958

Along all borders of banknote is pattern of stylized acanthus leaves. On top border, centered, is a mythical Chinese lion - The Chinthe.

The sentence “Union Bank of Burma” is underneath that. This banknote is in light violet. A group of women planting rice in a field serves as a main illustration at center. This illustration also signifys that rice is a main export of Burma.

A paddy field is a flooded field of arable land used for growing semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in southern China, associated with pre-Austronesian and Hmong-Mien cultures. It was spread in prehistoric times by the Austronesian expansion to Island Southeast Asia, Southeast Asia including Northeastern India, Madagascar, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. The technology was also acquired by other cultures in mainland Asia for rice farming, spreading to East Asia, Mainland Southeast Asia, and South Asia.

Fields can be built into steep hillsides as terraces and adjacent to depressed or steeply sloped features such as rivers or marshes. They can require a great deal of labor and materials to create and need large quantities of water for irrigation. Oxen and water buffalo, adapted for life in wetlands, are important working animals used extensively in paddy field farming.

Paddy-field farming remains the dominant form of growing rice in modern times. It is practiced extensively in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Northeastern India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan, and Vietnam. It has also been introduced elsewhere since the colonial era, notably in Northern Italy, the Camargue in France, and in Spain, particularly in the Albufera de València wetlands in the Valencian Community, the Ebro Delta in Catalonia and the Guadalquivir wetlands in Andalusia, as well as along the eastern coast of Brazil, the Artibonite Valley in Haiti, and Sacramento Valley in California, among other places. Paddy fields are a major source of atmospheric methane and have been estimated to contribute in the range of 50 to 100 million tonnes of the gas per annum. Studies have shown that this can be significantly reduced while also boosting crop yield by draining the paddies to allow the soil to aerate to interrupt methane production. Studies have also shown the variability in assessment of methane emission using local, regional and global factors and calling for better inventorisation based on micro level data.

Paddy cultivation should not be confused with cultivation of deepwater rice, which is grown in flooded conditions with water more than 50 cm. (20 in.) deep for at least a month.

Denominations in numerals are in all corners. In lower right corner in words.

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