The Washington weekly post., 1899-06-06
QUEER COINS OF KOREA.
Interesting Amecdo,es of Experience
with Paper Money.

Interesting Ameedo,es of Experience
with Paper Money.
From the san Francisco Chronicle.
If n LIST were to be made Of all the ar
t!cles and substances which have beeh
used as mediums of exchange during the
worlds history it would make fairy
large volume The peculiarities OF diner
ent peoples as 10 disposition. climate oc-
cupation. power. and position have had
much. if not everything. to do with de-
termining what particular commonly
they have adopted from time 10 time as
a medium OF exchange. or, in other words
money Perhaps il would not be Tar
from the truth to say that chronological
list of the different things any one ma
ton or people has used from the earliest
times to the present would form fairly
good gauge of their rate OF advance IN
civilization.
The very earliest form of money which
is mentioned in Korean history was thlh
shaft Of iron shaped like an arrow lhese
were in use by many of the native tribes
an the time of Christ or before. Northern
Korea may have possessed a coinage oI
some kind, for We have Chinese COINS
that go back many centuries before the
beginning of our era. Northern hored
was in contact with China full thou-
sand years before the southern part OI
the peninsula. This is seen from the Iac'
that when in 193 Il. c. an invasion from
the Liaotong peninsula drove the teIe
KING of Northern Korea to the south ne
found there a people differing in many
essential respects from the people Oh lhe
north. One of the marked differences was
that the southern people were not ac-
ouainted with the value OF Sold ana sH-
yer. but preferred beads, in Whlch 'heg
seem to have followed the lead OF the
South Sea Islanders
The first mention of actual coinage III
Korea is about 1lGO A. ID. What the torn
was We are not told. and none OF them
have so far been discovered, but they
nrohahIy were the common perforated
cash. We have mention at the same tlihG
of a kind OF silver coin which resemoled
d bottle in shape, thOush us size anu
value are not stated.
During the whole of the present dy-
nastv down to the year 1882 the only coin
has been the common copper cash, or
which TWO or three different denomlhA-
tions have been minted. Al the tlIne
when the soldiers riot occurred IN ls5s
the Koreans were wholly unacquainted
the incident tnat occurred when one ot
the unfortunate japanese was struck
down on the street and killed. he was
carving d satcheL ana when ne Tell IL
was opened and found 10 contain nota-
inc but packages OF slips OF paper WIKI
peculiar marks. They were sCdtttrtl
about the road, and no one recognized IN
them good paper yen. Finally one tHrHly
Korean gathered some OF lhem ana tgoh
them home, wnere ne papered one OF his
rooms with them. Some months later an
other Korean who had come In contact
with the japanese at Fusan happened 70
enter this room. He took In the sltGa-
tiOu at once and. keeping his own cOuu-
sci offered a good price for the house
The bargain Wds coEsummated. and aTtei
the new owner had made some necessary
alterations such as re-papering and tht
like, he suddenly decided that he did not
want the house after all and gave L
back 10 its former owner as gift, mucn
10 the latters surprise and delight This
burst of generosity sprang, OF coun-
| from the fact that the willy gentleman
carried OFF several thousand yen In his
sleeves.
When the customs service was founded
| Mexican dollars were introduced, and
| after a while began to pass current
among the people Of the ports and oi
| Seoul Trough cash was still much pre-
ferred II did not take the Koreans Ions
! 10 find out that II is easier To hide ter
! silver dollars or carry them from place
! 20 place than 20 hide a great pile Of cast
/ or TO TRANSPORT fl. Portability and hidiut
mower were the first arguments that rec
commended the silver dollar 10 the Korean
1 When Japanese silver ven appeared peO
ple would have nothing 70 do with them
but when 20 was discovered that amOnl
! a hundred Aexicans there were al leaS
three or four bad ones, public Opinion
/ changed. and the MeHiCans were wholly
| rejected. In this case purity Of metal de
| cided the case In favor OF the Japanes'
/ coin. Finally the paper yen made It's ap
| Dcarance. The Koreans realized tha
| these were mere promises 70 pay, and al
| they had had many bitter experience
! among themselves in the matter o
/ broken promises. they scorned the paper
! They would hardly trust a man II the'
4 had hlr.. under lock and key: how mucl
I less could tnev tTust an unknown. Tor
egn. intangible government. But IN
: time came when they discovered ina
! these pieces OF paper were held I'm grea
| rcpUte by the japanese who seemed u
| treasure them as fOndly az silver yen
| Besides. they we're lighter tnsn the silver
| and did not discover themselves BY an
! tell-isle clinking in the sleeve. So a
! last DapeT became the great GesideTatum
1 ard II sold al q premium.
! "a her good story T. told OF a sp0Hai
( who was 6poiled a Korean merchan
J was going into the country 10 pgrchas.
/ rice. He wanted 10 save the expense D
/ carrying silver. 50 he turned ms none,
/ into paper yen ard for security agaius
/ highW1ymsn sswed tkese precious piece
/ or paper in the lIniTg OF his coat A. d,
/ vas trudging along the road A .0bbp
/ leaned into his path and presented IN,
/ point Of Z HiCk-d-lookiEg knife .'Ou
| with your spon1yr' he SAID In q very uer
| sus siva tone TIE traveller smiled bland
1 lY and snsUered Indeed ! have non,
( with ne" Then on with yOUr coat. W
| must Exchange. a. yours Is better thai
| mine" The Door merchant then saw NJ
/ folly IN having Tsed a good coat for hi
/ IsuJable purpose. But there Was no n.h
for II 20 OF r came and ne went on az
/ way a sadder and wiser man Mean~hiI
! thA rObbeF luFked about seeking Tor som
| more inviting object upon which 10 n
| his elo4uFnce. Soon ne spisd a gentle
| man coming aicne on hls donkey H
! was dressed IN silk and his sad1l~-bag K
| seemed full The invitation vas agall
! extended TO deliver ~ and the same -
| sn0nsa was given So the fObAer 81
| Well OF with your silk coat then tn
! exchange Was made and the cresffaiiel
gentleman srTise5 ~ his home IN sorr'
I piiybi Ne threw the ROBBERS coat dow
on the floor and told the women 70 tax
u away and tura u. az IL had belonged Z
| q rObDef-
The women TOOK IL away and Laid II O
a shelf 10 Be used later AZ mop som
weeks later II vas taken down and ftp
ped up. when 20 the horror Of fhe some
strange pieces of paper appeared With hos
rlbie faces on them. They ran sersaFT.iu
from the room and told the master fha
the garment vas bswitched and sas foii o
| devils. He vent 20 see, and there DsfOF
his eyes la a fortune All OF Which goe
20 prove that 'tt is an ill wind &" &c
4 In the matter Of mlntlng kOyeA has &c