Resplendant Quetzal bird, Guatemala, collected around 1923
date: label: collected
content: ca 1923
notes: label: Description
content: Money is anything a community agrees to use to make payments and purchases. Communities in Mexico and Central America used quetzal (KET-sahl) tail feathers to pay taxes to Aztec rulers. The feathers were also made into headdresses and clothing for royalty and religious leaders. To collect the feathers people caught quetzal birds and pulled out their tail features before letting them fly away. The <i>quetzal</i> has been the name of Guatemala’s currency since 1925 reflecting the role of the currency in the nation’s cultural history.
place: label: place collected
content: Guatemala
label: associated place
content: Guatemala
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: National Numismatic Collection
label: Exhibition
content: Really BIG Money
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: The Honorable Charles E. Hughes
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: NU.70088.0001
label: catalog number
content: 273944
label: accession number
content: 70088
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Quetzal Bird
label: Object Name
content: alternative currency
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (perch material)
label: Physical Description
content: feathers, organic materials (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: top of head to wooden base: 44 cm; 17 5/16 in
label: Measurements
content: base: 16.5 cm; 6 1/2 in
label: Measurements
content: top of head to bottom of tail feather: 70 cm; 27 9/16 in