Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-01-17
A RARE CHINESE COIN.
New York Numismatist Reads Its Mystic
Characters.

| Characters.
! New York Sun
In the treasury departments of almost
all countries of the world a set of coins
| represe nting the entire series of coinage
of the nation, is kept by the government,
and when centuries of time has passed
some of these rare old coins become ex.
tremely valuable. As with the United
States government i'll this regard, so it il
with CHINA, the oldest of all empires a.
present existing on the face OF the earth
In the collection of coins and money in
various forms in Pekin, China, the
Chinese government has many pieces
dating back hundreds and even thousands
of years.
| There is in the collection of Prof. E. NJ.
! Worth of this city one of these old
| Chinese coins, which is perhaps without
doubt the oldest as we'll as the most rare
of all foreign coins in the possession of
numisma5ists in this country or in Eu
rope. 1t is of such unique and peculiar
design and possesses such an Interesting
history that the story it tells and the
manner in which it came into the pos
session of its present owner are inter
es5ing.
The Chinese value of the piece is about
1000 cash, or, at an average valuation of
that huctuatipg coin-Chinese cash
about twenty dollars of American money.
The coin is without duplicate in this or
any other civilized country, and Prof.
Worth has been told upon good authority
that the Chinese government has not a
duplicate of it.
In diameter this curious piece of money
measures 2B inches, and it is about an
eighth of an inch in thickness. The
metal Is composition supposed to be
gold, silver, and copper, but In what
proportions cannot be ascertained with
out an assay, and this, from the fact that
it would necessitate the mutilatiOn of
the coin, capnot, of course, be thought of.
On the face of the piece are twelve ami
mails, represented il the quaint style
peculiar to the nation from which it
comes. 4 rabbit leads the process sion
around the coin and is followed by a
curious-looking animal very much re-
sembling the cat. Chinese COW with
five legs and minus the tail follows in the
wake of the feline sleep disturber, and is
in turn superseded by peculiar animal
which might be taken for a hog, an ant
bear, or wild boar. Next ia process sion
comes a stif-legged dog with stig neck
and awkward carriage. He doesn't look
comfortable and has the appearance of
trying to look both ways at once. A
sportive cat of the Thomas gender, with
tail erect and boastful strut, drags
broken hind leg after him with the great
est of ease.
setting hen with her feet glued fast
to the ground next claims attention.
She has been sitting there for more than
forty centuries and has nothing to show
for it yet. Close in the wake of this IN
PARALLEL example of patience and virtue
comes the terrible Chinese dragon with a
handful of cotton tied to mis- tail, which
he wags in defiance, while grim smile,
indicating consciousness of superiority
over other dragons overspfeads his benign
countenance. A three-eared mule and a
lamb as large as a heifer come next, and
the procession still moves on. 1t moves
slowly, however, for in the rear comes
corkscrew snake, which manages to keep
up with the party whichever way they
turn the coin. Now this Interpretation
cannot be far from correct, for the re-
porter who read 1t can read pure Chinese
| and can tell easily whether laundry
check calls for half dozen collars or his
| other shirt.
| But, seriously, the coin is said to rep
resenJ-and has been so read and in
| ter preted by a number of learned Chinese
| III this Countrywide journeying from the
ark of these animals. This inter preta
| ton is rather startling, from the fact
| that the Chinese are Buddhists, and were
not supposed to know aught of the
| Christian religion Or its writings. Be
this correct or otherwise, there is no
doubt as to the translation of the writing
| upon the coin. 1t shows it to have been
coined under the reign of COnfucius l.,
and places its date at between 2 $50 and
$500 years before the Christian era.
| This fixes its age at about 1880 years, or
more than forty-two centuries.
At the date of this issue no part of the
world was known to mankind, so far as
our annals show, save what is known as
Palestine and ancient Greece and Italy.
| When moments thought is devoted to
the history of the intervening time and
the discoveries and changes that have
taken place during the life of this piece,
its value and rarity can be better imagi in
ed than described.
| Through an employe of the Chinese
government, early in the present century
the coin was surreptitiOusly removed
| from it's cabinet, and found its way by
descent for many generations, until 1862,
when it was purchased by Prof. Worth
from the then owner. The price paid was
81 500 and its numismatic value is now
said to be several thousand dollars. OF
course it is not for sale, and perhaps
never Will be.
The reverse side of the piece repre-
sents the great wall of China, and is Gov
cred with symbols, almost entirely OBJ
liberated By time. Altog ether it is an ip-
| ter ting relic and we'll worth seeing.
| old .npIGI1I LID i INmEp LrSrS