The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-06-04
THE COINS AND COINAGE OF CHINA.

A"Hp""a" SocieS Nv henry Philips, iJr.
ESQ.
At the stated meeting of the Numismatic
and Antiquarian Society, held last evening, a
report of the proceedings of which will be
found on our eighth page, Henry Phillips, Jr..
Esq, the Corresponding Secretary, read the
following paper
The most ancient ef civilized nations deserves
and claims OF us no small degree of notice.
While Europe was plunged in disorder and igno-
rance, the arts and sciences, protected by law
order, and religion, reigned supreme in the Ce-
lestial Empire, The attention of scholars was
early directed to this strange land, and many in
vestigations, which even at the present day arc
not vet ended, were made into its condition
The difficulties of acquiring the once almost i'm
possible language now no longer present anv
impedments to learned zeal.
A short sketch of the currency of this vast
region may not prove uninteresting, and / shall
venture tonight to trespass for u short time
upon your indulgence, although for the matter
about to be submitted to you no claim of origi-
nality is presented.
Who amongst us has not seen the uncouth
coins with which the Chinese buy and sell Who
has not contemptuously laid them aside i'm some
obscure corner of their cabinets And vet as
a symbol of immutability, so thoroughly the
characteristic of the oriental mind, the coins de-
serve some greater consideration.
The currency of China consists only of silver
and copper; the latter, however, is the only
metal which is coined, as silver passes from
hand to hand in ingots and by weight. Gold is
no more a currency among the Chinese than are
precious stones in Europe but is considered a
mere article of merchandise.
The fear of having the coin injured felo-
niously by clippers, etc, is the reason why the
precious metals are not coined, but only the
baser sort, although they acknowledge the con-
venience that would result from such a course.
Copper money is the only kind that is coined
there, and bears character stamped thereon; it
is in round, small pieces, with n square hole
through which they place strings, and the coins
thus arranged they wear around their necks
like necklaces. Whenever purchase is to be
made, the payment is effected by cutting off the
required quantity from the string. The indi-
yidual value of each coin is about the sixth part
of cent.
such and similar pieces, and of the earlier
dynasties, according to Pere du Halde, some
specimens are known to be still in existence
which have either been handed down from
family to family, or have been found among the
ruins OF houses and cities.
The word used by the Chinese to designate
money according to the same authority, is
TSuef, which is said to properly signify the
1Cdter Of a fountain that runs irjtbOH cedsjHg;
very appropriate and symbOhcal designation
of the function for which currency is in
tended.
The metal used for this small coinage is an
alloy usually containing four a. parts of lead
to six CO. of copper, which is the cause that the
red copper loses its color, and is no longer sOnO
rOuS. The ancient writers of China assert that
formerly silver and gold money were coined as
well, and that money had been used which was
made of tin, lead, iron and even baked earth on
which figures and characters were imprinted.
1t is related that after the reign of Han, n
prince caused money to be made of sealed earth
united with strong glue, and taking it into his
head to put down copper money, he got together
as much of it as he could collect, buried it very
deep in the earth, and killed the workmen when
the task had been performed, that none mig hit
know where it was hidden.
In very ancient days, it is said in the very first
dynasty the money was carried in the shape of
n cutlass, and was called Tao, word which is
reported to bear that signifcation, Another
kind was of a bulging form resembling the back
of a tortoise and thence called KO0ei; other
kinds of irregular shapes and figures also eX-
listed, but being found incOnVenient for practical
purposes, their use was discontinued At one
time coins were used small to be called
ganders' eyes, and so thin that they swan on
water, and could not be handled without danger
of being broken. OF these it took ten thousand
100000 to purchase measure of rice sufficient
to last a man ten days.
The stamp on the coin has no relation to the
prince on the throne, because they think it indie
cent and disrespectful that the image of the
prince should constantly pass through the hands
of merchants and the meanest of the people and
be used Tor the cOmmonest and Vlest OF pur-
poses. n DOJlOn wherein Inc ASlaIlC SeCluueu-
ness of the higher ranks of the nation is pre-
sented again under new garb The inscriptions
which we find on these coins are merely POM
pOus titles given to the different years of the
reign of each monarch, as for instance:-Eter-
ndLLy shining, SoUereiqny peaceful, ntdqnali-
NOUS etc. etc. new title does not necessarily
denote a new emperor, matter which has
caused error to arise among the Europeans, and
from which they have greatly multiplied the
number OF the reigning princes.
I'm flNlr IEiR, ha a. tla
reigning family, of the tribunal that presides
over the mint or over the city where they
were struck-a custom that will recall to mind
the early mint masters of England and the
moneyers of the middle ages, to say nothing of
the Jdnllty COINS and mint marks OF the Romans.
Sometimes they bear the value set upon them
by a particular prince, which may be greater
than it really was, and in instances was larger
than the true one.
The characters on the very ancient coins it is
now impossible to understand; even the learned
among the Chinese themselves are forced to
confess that they are unable to comprehend
their meaning.
Scarcity of coin sometimes obliged the En-
perors TO place upon the coins higher value
than their intrinsic one-a measure which often
gave rise to popular tumults. This scarcity
happened either through an unusual concoursc
of foreigners, who, trading for SPECIE carried it
away in their vessels, or through the precauton
of the people, who in time of war took
care to bury their boards, and
died without revealing the secret of the
place where they were deposited. Once copper
was so scarce that TO procure it the emperor
demolished fourteen hundred Q4OO) temples of
Fo, and melted down the images which they
contained to turn them into money.
Sometimes all private persons were strictly
prohibited from keeping any vessels or utensils
of copper, and were obliged to deliver them at
the places where the money was usually coined
to proper officials appointed to receive them.