Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1897-08-31
RARE CHINESE COINS.
FROM no B. c. TO THE PRESENT DAY,


Gently received by beqpe3t n collection
of Chinese coins which may be said to
be more complete than any Of the great
collections Of the British museum In
London or the Blbliothequc Rationale
In Paris,
This priceless collection was be-
qucathed by the late G.. B. Glover. for
merly Of the Chinese Imperial mari
tine customs, a man Of recognized
ability as n numismatlst and a collcc-
tor OF many years standing. who, by
availing himself Of long residence
and knowledge Of the country and an
intimacy with the natives, had oppor-
tunities rarely offered to Foreigners
The collection represents the coinage
of China from 77Q b C. TO the present
day, including very many specimens OF
those peculiar pieces used both rs coins
and religious medals, molds Of divers
shapes, notes both government and
private, and those coins of forcnig
countries struck from time to time foI
CONNER cial use with China. such as
the dollars" Of English. Danish
American and Mexican manufacture
as wnll as the entire series OF the coin
age OF the Annamese, Japanese.
Coreans ana the Mahommedan cities
Of China itself
To describe this collection would re.
quire volume, for. In fact II is a
history of the manners and customs
depicted in imperlshable bronze OF a
great nation whose era of civilization
antciates even the dawn of that Of
Greece and Rome It represents the
religious ohservances, the various dy
nasties, rehellions and Instructions.
overthrow Of relgning families and
changes in form Of government
The primitive mode OF commercial
exchange in China. as in all other
countries, was by means of barter and
Interchange OF certain products Of the
earth. such as wheat. and rice, or those
of manual labor, MS silks arms. imple-
ments. etc. From this method OF eX-
change originated the mode of coin
age, the first coins taking shape from
the articles which they were to repre-
sent In value. Thus the first coins
In China were shaped to repre-
sent knives, spades and other articles
of barter which they We're to represent
in value. the idea being that the coins
would be more easily transported and
boarded than the original articles.
The earliest record OF China shows
that SHINING, the second known em-
peror, who reigned about the year 2i3I
Il. c., Instituted market place in his
empire In order'to gather merchandise
and silks. There in the daytime the
market was held, in which the people
exchanged their products. At this time
the travelling merchants made use of
metallic money, which was supposed to
have originated during the reign of
Tai-hao, 2Sb2 Il, c. It was limited In
circulation, being used solely by the
merchants. and not by the agricultur-
al or country people
In this reign money was called KIN,
or metal; in that Of Gen-nue-si 1867
b. c., down to Kao- sln-sl, 2535 H., C.,
no" or merchandise in that of Tao
tang-si the coinage was called 'tseun
or fountain, as 1t was maintained that
money flowed as fast as Il fountain,
that 1t spread more widely than 'nu,
II piece Of hemp or silk cloth, which
was current as money and that 1t was
better than tao" or knives, The
money of the first three dynasties, 10
1866 b. c., is described as having been
made of three kinds OF metal--yellow,
(gold), white (silver), ana red "COPPER",
cloth (hemp and Sikh, knives and
spades of iron, tortoise shell ana COW
ries. The tao coins were of IRON IN
form among the earliest articles oil
trade in general use Before money
was current the shape was retained as
n currency The first tao coins were
cast 2i5s II, c., the inscription mean
ing 'to exchange for merchandlse. Al
this time old silver and copper began
to circulate more freely, and the tao
or knife money gradually disappeared
When Wnng-NIang. A, u. A. be-
came emperor of China he reintro-
duced the tao, or knife-shpped coins
and called them h-tuoi meaning
"knives to make agreement or bonus;
They We're legal tender for cash 10
create Il higher value for this coinage
igerpI coins of the same
shape washed In gold, Inscribed "Ts'o
Tao ("gilded knives or precious mer-
chandiseD, having an arbitrary Valu-
alton OF 500 cash. The gliding wear
ing off in time left but the Inscription
TO indicate the value and the Issuance
of ts'o tao was abolished 10 be re-
placed by the "ho" or 'pu" coinage of
cloth money representing the shape of
dress pattern, the Inscription "Ho
pu" meaning merchandise cloth.
These We're usually OF cast iron
though sometimes Of copper
After the final abolition of the tao
coinage or knife money which Wang
Mang had introduced IN A. u. II,
new kind Of iron money was coined,
These pieces were called yik-tseu,
meaning blended round and surround
ed with red" on account OF the raised
edge Of the coin, which was made Of
red copper In short time the coun-
terfeits were so numerous that this
coinage had to he discontinued. An
imperial mint was established, and
the officers of the SuuElin (Academy
of Scicncel were appointed mint mas
tiers. and the provinces ceused to coin
their own money. The pieces of z tsu
were then issued remaining the prin-
cipal money In circulation for 500
years. Then free coinage WAS re-
stunned and an entirely new coin was
Instituted.
The new coins were circular, With
square hole in the center, IN accord
ance with the Chinese belief that the
heavens are round and the earth
square. This coin was called "kUl-
Euen-t -ling-pno," remaining until the
present day. Upon the diverse side
the inscription rends: Current money
OF the newest beginning" and In the
exerruo the date Of the year of the
emperors reign. Upon the reverse can
be seen the mail murk which tradition
says was done by the emperor Wen
Tex Who, when shown the rev design
mrdclcd in wax, reached for and left
the Imprint 81 his finger natl upon Il.
As thu mint asters did not dare Ell
face til" ma,li 1t has remained on the
coins ever since. These conn are called
cash" hy thG foreigners, and by the
nutiNrs tsiru.
The Chinese "tacl" NJ She present
uundrrcurH, or fan, nnl i,VC0 cash OF
day Is d'ided into 10 mnce or H. 100
tsleu. Tn. intrinsic Va'ue ~ this cur
rau"y Is whatever the mixture of tin,
srell"r. copper and iron ul the same
weight S'uult bring, yet The tacl of