81. Coins on snuff-bottles

Ricarda Beatrix, assistant curator at the V&A recently tweeted about her work on the more than 500 Chinese snuff-bottles at the V&A (see V&A collection online). There are a further 451 Chinese snuff-bottles on the British Museum’s Collection Online. That makes almost 1000 in just two collections. I did a quick internet search for snuff-bottles and found a few examples with coin designs, which I’ll post below in three groups: foreign coins (usually silver dollars) on snuff-bottles, Chinese coins on snuff-bottles, and Liu Hai and the three-legged toad on snuff-bottles. There are probably a lot more out there. The images are not to size.

Foreign coins on snuff-bottles

BM: 1886,0306.11 — Snuff-bottle featuring a Spanish 8-reales coin, 1788-1850, Franks Gift (The inscription is a garbled version of Carolus III. Dei Gratia. 1788 // Hispan et Ind Rex. M. 8R)

Christie’s 2006, Live Auction 1759 J&J Collection of Snuff Bottles Part III (lot 68) – Snuff-bottle featuring Carolus IIII coin (link)

Doyle, 16 Sept 2013, Lot 337 — Snuff-bottle featuring Spanish 8-reales coin of Carolus IIII, 19th century (link) [copied from Doyle: This bottle belongs to a series of intriguing ‘coin’ bottles carved with the two sides of the Spanish silver dollar which, along with a gold counterpart, were standard international currency in trading during the 19th century. The present example, based on a 1765 Maria Theresa thaler, is rare within the group. More commonly such ‘coin’ bottles feature the portrait of Charles III, based on a 1781 coin. Jade ‘coin’ bottles are also unusual within this group; bottles of this type are usually rock crystal, but examples have been found in other types of quartz and, very rarely, in glass. For a discussion of this ‘coin’ group, see Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, the Mary and George Bloch Collection, Vol. 2, Hong Kong, 1998, pp. 154-157, no. 238.]
8tiger Oriental Art, # tiger1022 — Snuff-bottle feauring 18th-century coin (link)

Christie’s, 15 March 2017 — Snuff-bottle featuring a Maria Theresa thaler, and coat of arms, 1766-1840 (link)

Chinese coins on snuff-bottles

Museum of Modern Art, NY: 21.175.265a, b — Snuff-bottle featuring four coins (banliang, wuzhu, huoquan, Kaiyuan tongbao), 19th century, Converse Bequest
Christie’s, 14 May 2019 — Snuff-bottle with Guangxu tongbao coin, Hung Chong, Guangzhou or Shanghai, 1890-1920 (link)
Crow’s Auction Gallery Ltd, 1 July 2020 (Lot 210) — Snuff-bottle with dollar/5-yuan coins (link)

Liu Hai and the three-legged toad, with a string of coins (visible or implied) on snuff-bottles

V&A: C.1750&A-1910 — Snuff-bottle, featuring Liu Hai and the three-legged toad, with a string of coins, 1795-1820. Salting Bequest
V&A: C.1796&A-1910 — Snuff-bottle, featuring the three-legged toad, 1813-61. Salting Bequest
V&A: C.1778-1910 — Snuff-bottle, featuring the three-legged toad, 1750-1895. Salting Bequest
V&A: C.1888&A-1910 – Snuff-bottle, featuring the three-legged toad, 1750-1895. Salting Bequest
V&A: C.1803&A-1910 — Snuff-bottle, featuring Liu Hai and the three-legged toad, 1813-61. Salting Bequest

BM: 1936,0413.73 — Snuff-bottle featuring Liu Hai and the three-legged toad, 1880-1910, Cory Bequest
BM: 1936,0413.72 — Snuff-bottle featuring Liu Hai and the three-legged toad, 1800-99. Cory Bequest
BM: Franks.661.+ — Snuff-bottle featuring Liu Hai and the three-legged toad,1800-30. Neligan Bequest
BM: Franks.557.+ — Snuff-bottle featuring Liu Hai and the three-legged toad, 1820-90, Franks Gift
BM: 1877,0116.56 — Snuff-bottle, featuring Liu Hai and three-legged toad, 1700-1899, Franks Gift
BM: 1945,1017.345 — Snuff-bottle, with Liu Hai’s toe on the ivory stopper, 1850-99. Raphael Bequest
BM: 2018,3005.359 — Snuff-bottle, featuring Liu with coins around his neck, 20th century, (Japanese?) Victor Sassoon Chinese Ivories Trust

80. A Chinese coin-sword in Durham

Guest post by Anna N. Crowther

The Durham University Archaeology Laboratory Collection houses a wide variety of objects obtained over many years for teaching and learning purposes, many with unknown histories. One such object is a coin sword (Figure 1). Coin swords, also known as cash swords, evil-warding swords, exorcising swords, and magic swords, are generally believed to have been used within Chinese households to ward off evil spirits. In Chinese, they are known as 辟邪剑 bixiejian (evil-averting sword), 钱剑 qianjian (coin-sword), 古钱剑 guqianjian (old coin sword), and 铜钱剑 tongqianjian (copper coin sword).

Figure 1: Coin sword, China. Leaded brass, cord and iron, 56.1 x 7.0 cm. Durham University Archaeology Laboratory Collections

The precise history of this sword is unknown. The only documentation it possesses is a small label tied to the hilt, which gives the date of ‘5 Jan 77’, but is otherwise mostly illegible (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Label attached to the hilt of the coin sword

The sword is composed of 66 coins in total: 42 on the blade, 16 on the guard and 8 on the pommel. The coins are fastened by red and yellow cords onto an iron rod which extends throughout the full length of the sword (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Red and yellow cords tying the coins onto the iron rod

The sword is not unique and various other similar comparative pieces are in museums and private collections worldwide. Coin swords can be found in the collections of the British Museum, the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of Scotland, Horniman Museum and Gardens, the Science Museum in London and many other places. Despite the apparent prevalence of coin swords, little information is available about their use and their place within Chinese material culture. However, suggestions have been made of their connection to Taoist rituals and deities, Feng Shui and Chinese numismatic charms. For example, Doré (1914, p. 507) suggests that coin swords were made to represent the exorcising sword of the Daoist magician Zhong Kui.

If you have any knowledge or guidance on how they were used, who made and used them, or their connections to Chinese religion and culture, please contact Anna Crowther at anna.n.crowther@durham.ac.uk

Many thanks to Helen Wang, Emily Williams and Helen Armstrong for their help and assistance with this artefact research so far.

References:

DeGroot, J.J.M. (1910) The religious system of China: Its ancient forms, evolution, history and present aspect, manners, customs and social institutions connected therewith Vol. VI. Leyden: E.J. Brill.
Doolittle, J. (1868) Social life of the Chinese. A daguerrotype of daily life in China, (Paxton Hood ed.) London: Sampson Low, Son, and Marston.
Doré, H. (1914) Researches into Chinese superstitions Vol. V (Recherches sur les superstitions chinois), translated by M. Kennelly et al. Shanghai: T’usewei Printing Press.

79. East Asian money and medals in Scottish collections

In 2017, as part of an Ancient Egypt and East Asia National Programme, National Museums of Scotland (NMS) began a review of East Asian collections in Scotland, supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund, delivered by the Museums Association. The completed review East Asian Collections in Scotland (2020) covers 36 organisations, and highlights some of the objects and stories of these collections. The review can be found online here, and can also be downloaded as a pdf (307 pages) here.

*East Asian Collections in Scottish Museum* (website and pdf)

The survey covers three countries: China, Japan and Korea, and all types of objects, including numismatic material. The types of objects are: (1) Works on Paper/Silk/Pith, (2) Metalwork, (3) Cloisonné and Glass, (4) Ceramics, (5) Lacquer, (6) Carved Ivory/Stone/Wood, (7) Textiles, Dress/Embroidery, (8) Fibre/Bamboo/Wooden Structures, (9) Numismatics, (10) Photography, (11) Miscellany. The inclusion of a separate section devoted to numismatics is a very welcome development, the initiative of Dr Qin CAO, now a curator at the NMS, and previously a Future Curator in Asian Numismatics at the British Museum and the Manchester Museum.

For convenience, I’ve pulled out the information relating to money and medals, and present it below:

The Collections

For further details of the collections and provenances, see the full report.

Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums

China: a small collection of Chinese coins (thought to have been in circulation in Japan); renminbi notes from the 1990s; 1 coin-sword formed by coins from the Xianfeng reign (1850-1861)
Japan: a range of Meiji-period (1868-1912) currency issued in the 1870s; a silver ichibu-gin (1837); a copper-alloy hyakumon (1835-1868)

Elgin Museum

China: 1-yuan banknote issued by the Farmers Bank of China, 1933; 2-yuan banknote
Japan: 3 medals (with documentation) donated by George Geddie – Order of the Rising Sun (1905), Order of the Sacred Treasure (1905), a medal from the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) – awarded for his participation in a battle that defeated the Russian Navy in 1905; 2 Japanese occupation notes (Malaya, 1-dollar and 100-dollar); Tenpō tsūhō coin from Fukugawa, 1835

Live Life Aberdeenshire Museums

China: 3 objects comprising cash coins tied to metal bars (19th century); 2 buyuan coins, Beijin/Jizhou; 3 coins from Hong Kong; 3 banknotes of the Central Bank of China
Japan: 3 Meiji-period coins, 1868-1912; 2 post-WWII banknotes; 4 Japanese occupation notes (Burma[Myanmar] and Malaya [Malaysia])

University of Aberdeen Museum

China: examples of rebel coinage; spade coins and knife coins dating from 500 BCE to the 20th century; cash coins of Guangdong and Fujian provinces; Peiyang Arsenal coins from Zhili; a 10-tael silver ingot; a coin-sword
Japan: approx. 50 coins, including a silver coin with the inscription yonbu gorin 四分五厘, awarded to a student who achieved first place in the highest degree in examinations
Korea: 1/4 yang coin, 1898

Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, Highlife Highland

China: coins

Black Watch Museum (Perth)

Japan: banknotes
Korea: banknotes issued by the Bank of Koea, 1952-1953

Fife Cultural Trust

China: a few examples of Hong Kong currency from 1866, 1875 and 1904; 2 coin swords
Japan: 1 silver ichi-bu-gin

Perth Museum and Art Gallery, Culture Perth and Kinross

Korea: 2 coin-shaped charms

The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum, Leisure and Culture Dundee

The Cairncross Collection: (approx. 755 coins and 65 amulets from Mr A Cairncross): c.40 coins from the Qin to Tang dynasties; c.230 coins of the Song dynasty; c.45 coins of the Ming dynasty; c.330 coins of the Qing dynasty; c.65 coin-shaped charms and imitations of early knife and spade money; 4 Japanese coins; coin sword; 40 unidentified coins
China: 6 coin swords (Cairncross Collection; Mr A. Jack, donated in 1932; Mrs J. Drummond, donated c.1968); a set of 8 solid metal weights (inscribed qian 錢, liang 兩, jin 斤, dan 擔)
Japan: 4 100-mon Tenpō tsūhō ō 天保通寶 coins, 1 silver coin of Akita, inscribed 9 monme 2 bu 九匁二分 (Cairncross Collection)

The Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum

Collection: 439 records for numismatic items, mainly Chinese, with only a few of these being Japanese. According to the records, these date from the 1st- 2nd century to the 18th century
China: coins (from Mr J. Kirkwood); coin swords (from Miss H.L. Moodie, Mr J. Kirkwood)
Japan: 2 Kanei tsuho coins

University of St Andrews Museums

China: a silver ingot; some cash coins
Japan: a coin from 1830-1844

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

George Forrest Collection: record of accounts kept by Zhao Chengzhang (GF’s “right-hand man”) for Forrest (1873-1932), who collected plants in China; steelyard-balance (diaocheng);

Glasgow Museums: Glasgow Museums Resource Centre, The Burrell Collection, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

China: 40 coins
Tibet: 1 silver coin

Low Parks Museum, South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture

Japan: a Tenpō Tsūhō 100-mon piece (1835-1870), a 1-shu piece (isshu gin 一朱銀) possibly from the Kaei period (1848-1854), and two Ae one-sen pieces (1885); a 10-yen note (1946); a 10-yen coin of post-WWII; a 10-cent Japanese Government note (printed in English); Japanese occupation notes (Singapore/Malaya; Burma, 1942)

The Dick Institute, East Ayrshire Leisure

China: 357 coins – cash coins, oval coins, coins of ‘unusual shape’ (possibly knife and spade coins), and coins from Hong Kong; 2 catalogues of ancient coins; coin swords; 8 porcelain coins [HW: perhaps Thai “pee”?]
Japan: a small collection of Japanese coins; Japanese occupation notes

The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

China: knife money (from A.C. Johnstone and James R. Lockie); cash coins; banknotes; 10-tael silver ingot from the Republican period (1912-1949)
Japan: several koban, 17th-18th centuries

The McLean Museum and Art Gallery, Greenock

China: coin sword (from John S. Barclay)

Dumfries Museum, Dumfries and Galloway Council Arts and Museums Service

China: a small collection of coins, including spade money

Hawick Museum, Live Borders Museums, Galleries & Archives

China: 40 Chinese coins, incl. 16 cash coins, Fujian, 1662-1723; 1 spade money (huobu) [HW: probably spade-money issued by Wang Mang?]; 2 banknotes of the Farmers Bank of China (1-yuan, 5 yuan); 1 banknote of the Central Bank of China (10-dollars)
China: ‘Value of Cargo at Shanghai Dock’ 上海船頭貨價紙, document printed on silk, Shanghai, 1861 — “A ‘rectangle of light blue silk printed with black Japanese or Chinese characters’ was listed in Transactions of the Hawick Archaeological Society, dated 11 May 1875, as ‘Chinese newspaper printed on blue satin for the use of the Emperor’. This item was donated by Samuel Mossman who had been living in Shanghai and working for the North China Herald newspaper. The text has the title: Value of Cargo at Shanghai Dock (Shanghai chuantou huozhizhi 上海船頭貨值紙) and is dated the 16th day of the 10th month in 1861. This weekly publication lists the names of the ships’ captains and the ships expected to unload their cargo at the docks on the Huangpu river.”
Japan: 1 hansatsu of the Edo-period (c.1603-1868) for 1 monme of silver 銀壱匁; 21 Japanese coins, incl a copy of a coin from 1100 CE; 2 Japanese occupation notes (10 rupees, 10 dollars)
Korea: 1 banknote, 10 jeon, 1962

NOTE: The review specifically covered East Asian collections in museums. There may also be numismatic collections in libraries: for example, the collection of Theophilus Siegfried Bayer (1694-1738) in the Special Collections and Archives of the University of Glasgow Library. Bayer was perhaps the first European to take Chinese numismatics seriously – see my earlier post about his collection. If you know of any other East Asian numismatic collections in Scotland, please leave a comment below.

78. Chinese money matters – so why does it have such a low profile?

This was the title of my paper at the Art, Materiality and Representation conference, held in London, June 2018. The participants were all people who work in museums or places with Asian collections – and how they have reconsidered the collections, displays, interpretations, etc, bearing in mind changing attitudes and changing audiences. The proceedings of the conference (11 papers) have just been published online, open-access, and links to the contents are given below:

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77. Lead inclusions in leaded tin bronzes

Dr Sana Shilstein at the Weizman Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel, recently contacted me with the results of a metallurgical project looking at the composition of lead inclusions in modern and ancient leaded tin bronzes. He encourages anyone interested in this project to contact him by email at sana.shilstein@weizman.ac.il

S. Shilstein , A. Berner , Y. Feldman , S. Shalev & Yu. Rosenberg (2019), Distinguishability between ancient and modern leaded tin bronzes by the composition of their lead inclusions, STAR: Science & Technology of Archaeological Research, 5:2, 29-35. DOI:10.1080/20548923.2019.1649082

ABSTRACT: The composition of lead inclusions in modern and ancient leaded tin bronzes was studied by XRay Diffraction (XRD) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) in Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Lattice parameter of lead inclusions in all bronzes was smaller than the lattice parameter of pure lead. This determination indicates that lead inclusions in bronzes are nothing else but Pb–Sn solid solutions. Tin concentration in lead inclusions in modern bronzes was not less than 3 at% in accordance with the Pb–Sn phase diagram, tin concentration in lead inclusions of ancient bronzes was as low as 1 at%. This difference
enables a distinction between ancient bronze artefacts and modern products including the most sophisticated fakes. On the other hand, our work demonstrates that the generally accepted Pb–Sn phase diagram corresponds to an incomplete equilibrium state and only after centuries-long aging at ambient temperatures does the Pb–Sn solid solution reach real equilibrium.

76. Framed displays of Japanese money as Western Decorative Arts

Guest post by Emily Pearce Seigerman

The Yale University Art Gallery’s Department of Numismatics houses well over 120,000 objects of numismatic and para-numismatic material representative of international traditions and cultures from more than two millennia. While the majority of objects are coins, medals, and paper currencies, the Collection also houses fine and decorative arts objects, printing plates, dies, books, and documents related to commerce traditions. One such decorative arts object is this large framed display containing 33 replicas of Edo (Tokugawa)-period (1603-1868) Japanese coins.

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75. Chinese coins and reign/base marks on ceramics

Look underneath Ming and Qing dynasty ceramics, and you’ll often find a reign mark or another kind of mark on the base (Chinese: 底款 dikuan – base-mark). Sometimes these are presented in a way that references Chinese coin designs – some base-marks look like coins: some have a square mark in the middle of a round base (like the hole in a coin?), and/or two concentric circles (like the outer rim of a coin?). Some even have an inscription arranged top-bottom-right-left as on coins, although this is sometimes a good luck inscription, as found on coin-shaped charms. Chinese coins had reign periods as part of the inscription several centuries earlier than the Ming dynasty, but when do Chinese coin-shaped base-marks first start to appear on ceramics? Which came first – the reign-period base-mark or the Chinese coin-inspired base-mark? What is the earliest evidence of a Chinese coin-inspired base-mark?

Label text at the Bristol Museum. (Image source: Amelia Dowler)

Blue and white ‘coin’ dish, 17th century (Sotheby’s, New York, 19-20 March 2013)

Chinese coins were used decoratively and symbolically at least as early as the Han dynasty. And coin-designs featured on the body of Chinese ceramics long before the Ming dynasty, as in the Song dynasty vase below.

Yaozhou meiping vase incised with coin-pattern, Song dynasty. Photo Paragon International Auctioneers (image source: Alain Truong2014.wordpress.com)

74. Book: China’s Foreign Debt (catalogue of bonds and stock certificates)

The library of the Department of Coins and Medals, British Museum, has just acquired a copy of this illustrated catalogue, published almost 40 years ago in 1983:

Wilhelm KUHLMANN, China’s Foreign Debt 1865-1982 : Excluding the Debt of the ROC Taiwan (privately published by the author), Hannover, 1983. ISBN 0-9610400-0-9

bond book

PART 1

1. Preface

2. A few historical considerations

2a. Some aspects of China’s financial history

2b. Chronology

2c. Yen-denominated bond issues

2d. Direct loans of foreign governments to China

2e. Private investments in China

3. Recent developments

3a. Foreign funds raised by the PRC to finance imports

3b. The Sino-US claims settlement agreement

3c. Development in Great Britain

3d. Other countries

3e. The PRC’s first trial to launch an external bond issue

3f. Bondholders’ struggles for redemption

3g. The Hukuang Case, by Prof. Hubert Park Beck

3h. The actual estimate of China’s foreign debt in the form of bearer bonds

3j. Charts of the big Chinese government loans

3k. Development of a collector’s market in Chinese bonds 1974-82

PART 2

1. Financial terms and procedures

1a. Loan agreement

1b. Bond issues, specimens

1c. Reserve stock, duplicates

1d. Floatage, temporary bonds

1e. Inscribability, registerability

1f. Securities

1g. Drawing procedures

2. Introduction to the Catalogue

2a. Numbering system

2b. Other abbreviations

2c. Currencies

2d. Dates

2e. Denominations (= nominal or face value)

2f. Number issued and outstanding

2g. Colour

2h. Usual condition; grading

2j. Valuation

2k. Size

2l. Paper quality

2m. The different type settings

2n. Further general remarks

The Collector’s Synopsis of Chinese external bonds

Compilation of Chinese external bonds [ie the catalogue]

Appendix 1 – The Sino-German Agreement 1921

Appendix 2 – 4% Russian 1902 (China’s contribution to Russia)

Appendix 3 – Where to buy Chinese bonds

Every so often, someone asks about Chinese bonds and share certificates in the British Museum collection. There are a few in the BM Collection – see Collection Online (search for China bond), but probably many more in private collections. Here’s one:

Government of the Republic of China Treasury Bond (8% on 500 francs) of 1923, for the Lung-Hsing-U-Hai Railway (BM 2014,4050.1, donated by Dirk Booms)

73. The Howard F. Bowker Collection at the NNM, Smithsonian

The Howard F. Bowker Collection in the National Numismatic Museum, at the Smithsonian, has been digitized and is available on the NNM online collection – here’s the weblink (search for “Howard F Bowker”). (more…)

72. Digitization Project: Chinese Banknotes at the NNM, Smithsonian

There are several digitization projects happening at the National Numismatic Museum, at the Smithsonian, including this transcription project (I’ve copied and pasted from the NNM website below). Many thanks to Wayne Holmen, editor of The E-sylum for posting info about it (E-sylum, vol. 23, no. 6, February 9, 2020). (more…)

Chinese Money Matters