numismaticexploits

Bank of Japan Currency Museum

So I have finally had a chance to visit another numismatic venue. This time travelling to the other side of the world to Japan. Two things stood out when I first entered the museum. The first was the price, apart from the British museum, this is the only other museum which has a numismatic section to be completely free. Secondly, and more frustratingly (although understandable), photography was forbidden inside the building. So I had to make do with a picture of the sign outside and one showing the floor-plan from the pamphlet I got.

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When entering the museum on the ground floor (the actual exhibition room is up a flight of stairs), you are greeted by a team of security guards and a metal detector. They are quite adamant that nothing stray enters the building, as I can attest there are some very valuable pieces on display which could easily be ‘acquired’ by the less discerning members of the public.

Another thing which happened during the check-in was when I was given a small bright red folder which had a brief translation and break-down of all the exhibition’s cases. The need for this became apparent when reaching the exhibition hall as everything was purely in Japanese.

The museum itself is not very large, but comparable in size to others I have been to. So that of itself was no big issue. It was definitely far better laid out than others though, with more space than the British museum, and some ordered progression throughout the room when compared to Vienna’s Kunsthistoriches Museum or Helsinki’s Kansallismuseo. The exhibit takes you through a certain route and journey through the history and evolution of Japan’s coinage. From the earliest coins copying those from China, to the more modern coins in circulation and the advent of paper money.

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There were some well preserved and fantastic pieces on display throughout the exhibition. From basic copper coins, through silver to gold. It was sad that the guide I was reduced to using was only a summary, as not being a native Japanese speaker I missed out on a dearth of information provided on the individual pieces on display.

As well as Japanese pieces on display, other nations coins and banknotes were sprinkled throughout the exhibit helping to explain Japans economic history. Also being used as examples to explain design decisions the Japanese mint took when producing their own. Again, the quality of the pieces chosen were of prime condition. I was also amused to find a 9th century Anglo-Saxon coin mixed in amongst the collection. To think something that old from England had travelled so far tickled me.

The exhibit also had a section on how Japanese people have attempted to forge the currency, as well as the mints attempts to tackle counterfeits. I have only found one other museum to do this, again referring back to the British Museum in London. Although, compared to London, the Bank of Japan museum focuses mainly on endeavours in Japan rather than a more worldwide effort the British museum approaches.

The museum also contains many hands-on exhibits within the space. Visitors are able to touch 1 million yen in bills to see how large the stack would be (and the chance to feel that much money haha). They also had a heavily chained wooden case filled with enough pure gold ingots to allow visitors to feel the weight of several millions yens worth of pure gold. I just managed to get the case off the table.

Finally, my favourte part of the exhibit was tucked away in the corner at the back of the room. It was several electronic shelves built into the wall with an electric keypad locking system. Visitors were able to type in a code printed on the wall, and the shelves in the case would switch out and present different types of coins or banknotes with a specific theme in mind. I managed to see German Notgeld, Japanese occupation money from the Second World War, and medieval clan tokens before my control of the keypad was wrested unwillingly from me to a group of schoolgirls on a field trip.

In short, the Bank of Japan currency museum was certainly one of the more well thought out and well designed musems on the topic of numismatics I have gone to.

Collection Update Feb ’18

So after the last few months of exploring the coins of Asia, we return westwards to more familiar grounds and explore some coins from Italy. The coins I have acquired date from the early 19th century during the tumultuous phase when Italy underwent several social and political revolutions which culminated in the unification of the disparate Italian states into the Kingdom of Italy in 1871, when Rome was made the capital of the new country.

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Going from left to right in the picture there is a 6 Tornesi piece (1801) from the Kingdom of Naples (a much clearer picture can be found here). In the middle is a 5 Quattrini (1826) from the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Finally on the far right, we have a 1 Soldo (1866) from the Papal States.

Since the fall of Rome, the Italian peninsula was divided amongst a lot of independent states which despite their close geographic position, it is often debated whether they really shared a similar culture. Thus there was no real calls for unification. That however changed when Napoleon invaded Italy and created the Kingdom of Italy in the North. This quickly reverted back in 1815 after the Congress of Vienna when Napoleon was defeated. Overall, Italy could be split into five geographical areas. The ultra-conservative Kingdom of Naples in the South, the theocratic Papal states in the centre. The Austrian Empire controlled much of the North-East, and exerted control over the remaining central states of Tuscany, Parma and Modena, whilst in the North West was the only truely independent state of Sardinia, also known as Piedmont.

In 1848, there were a series of revolutions across Europe. In Italy, revolutionaries in Milan and Venice rose up against the Austrians, Sicilians fought for independence from Naples, and in Rome they declared a Republic. The Roman Republic was led by Giuseppe Mazzini who had founded a revolutionary group called the Young Italians and had been launching insurrections for years.

Unfortunately, in a short time the rebellions had been crushed. Austrian’s defeated the uprisings, Neapolitans crushed the Sicilians, and French troops were sent to Rome to reinstate the Pope (they would remain in the city for some time). This period was known as the First Italian war for Independence, and it ultimately failed. However, it allowed the King of Sardinia, Victor Emmanuel II to position himself to lead the unification movement.

To try and gain powerful allies, in the 1850’s, he sent troops to the Crimea to fight alongside the British and the French against the Russians. Eventually Napoleon III of France came to their aid for two reasons. First to gain prestige and hopefully weaken the Austrian Empire, and second, in 1858 he survived an assassination attempt by an Italian revolutionary, and by allying with the Kingdom of Sardinia, hoped to curb this sort of activity. Piedmont ceded the regions of Nice and Savoy to France, and the alliance was cemented. They both attacked Austria in April 1858, starting the Second War of Italian Independence. They were victorious against the Austrians, and gained further help from the central states of Tuscany, Parma and Modena who had subsequently ousted their pro-Austrian leaders. Piedmont annexed Lombardy, and the central states that helped in the war voted to join the Kingdom.

Shortly after this victory, Guiseppe Garibaldi (a famed revolutionary who had fought in Europe and South America) was persuaded by other revolutionaries to launch the invasion Sicily. He managed to gather a thousand volunteers, and limited support from the British. In the 1860’s he sailed for Sicily and slowly fought his way North. He entered Naples to much celebration and hoped to push on further to Rome. He was further pursuaded by Victor Emmanuel to stop, because French troops were still stationed in the city. So Garibaldi handed over his southern conquests to Victor Emmanuel, and the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1861 (minus the cities of Venice and Rome). Italy would gain Venice in 1866 when it was handed over to France to keep them neutral during the brief war Austria fought against Germany during Bismarck’s attempts to make Germany the greater German power. France quickly turned the city over to Italy.

Italy would not gain the city of Rome until 1870. During this year Germany invaded France kick-starting the Franco-Prussian war. Germany’s speedy gains in the war forced the French to withdraw the troops they had stationed in Rome, allowing the Italians to simply march in. In 1871, Rome was declared the capital of the new Kingdom of Italy, and the unification of the country was complete. Although joined together politically; culturally and economically, the new kingdom had many problems to overcome.

Collection Update Jan ’18

This month I am presenting the last installment of my Asia focus in regards to additions to my collection. It is safe to say that no foray into Asia would be complete without at least touching upon China. It dominates the region, and would be extremely hard not to at least acquire several coins from it’s extremely long history. I have also attained another Japanese copper coin (2 Sen, Meiji Era), as well as another silver Indian coin (1 Jital, 1210-1235) from the Dehli Sultanate.

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I will start off with the rather worn and virdigrised coins on the piece of card. Both are clearly Chinese, and the one on the left dates from the year 7-14AD. It is a 1 Wu Shi coin from the ‘Emperor’ Wang Mang. I use the term emperor in quotes as Wang Mang was a court official during the Han dynasty who overthrew the Emperor of the Liu family and started the new Xin dynasty (which means ‘renewed’ in Chinese) under his control. Wang Mang was killed when the capital Chang’an (called Xi’an today) was attacked by forces loyal to the previous Han dynasty in 23AD. The Han dynasty was restored a few years later in 25AD and would continue to rule China until the start of the Three Kingdoms period in 220AD.

The coin on the right dates from 1094-98AD, and is a 1 cash coin from the Emperor Zhe Zong of the Song dynasty. Not much happened during Zhe Zong’s reign. He inherited the throne at the age of nine, and was under control of his grandmother until her death in 1093. He attempted reforms to gain further control on the empire, but due to political infighting amongst his courtiers, many of the reforms were not fully implemented. This would eventually lead to the collapse of the Song dynasty in the 12th century. Zhe Zong himself would die at the age of 24 in 1100.

The final two Chinese coins date from the early 20th century when China underwent massive political change and upheval. Following the turn of the 20th century, China was in the grips of the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901), a movement which was anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian. A pro-nationalist movement which had risen up in response to meddling from foreign powers in Chinese affairs, and aggressive Christian missionaries infiltrating all aspects of Chinese life. Chinese government officials were split on how to deal with the movement as some held sympathies due to harsh demands and exploitation inflicted by the Western Colonial powers during the previous decades. The attitude of the Empress changed in favour of the Boxers in 1900, when international intervention was beaten back at the Battle of the Taku Forts. Eight different foreign powers sent troops to China to deal with the rebellion, and the now hostile Qing government. In 1901 the rebellion was quelled and ultimately the ruling dynasty’s control of the country. With defeat and the apparent weakness of the ruling Qing dynasty(not just in the Boxer Rebellion, but the previous Sino-Japanese war), many military officers, students and court officials advocated a change of government to that of a Republic. The Wuchang uprising sprung up in 1911. Several months later, other provinces in China followed suit after receiving appeals from rebel forces, and by March 1912 the Empress of the Qing dynasty abdicated, leaving China to become a Republic.

Reflections and Collection update December ’17

So being the final blog entry of 2017, it gives one a chance to reflect on what I, as a collector and enthusiast have achieved over the last twelve months. This year I have acquired many different types of coins, with an aim of finding new and unusual pieces for my collection. This has caused me to start focusing on coins beyond the 20th century, or from countries which as a British person sound far-flung and exotic. The number of coins in my collection dating from before the turn of the 20th century has significantly increased. I feel I have attained more coins from the late 18th and early 19th centuries than I have done in the last 20 years.

This pursuit of acquiring older and older coins has yielded some fruit, and I have attained some coins dating back significantly further. With last months post about the coins from India being a prime example.

So apart from diversifying my collection, what have I actually learnt? I would say the one thing which comes to mind instantly is the blog entry on British token coinage I did back in the summer. My studies at university rarely ventured beyond the early medieval period, so knowledge of numismatics beyond that and the 20th century are rudimentary at best. Finding that Britain thought minting low value coinage as a stain on it’s integrity was novel in of itself. Pursuing this, led me to finally acquire a Cartwheel Penny, something I have mildly wanted since first seeing them in the British Museum many years ago. Through discovering this new type of token coinage, my own interest in alternative monetary systems has increased. As understanding the cultural significance of money has always been a keen personal project. As evidenced by a post I dedicated to Notgeld towards the start of this year. Hopefully in 2018, I will be able to continue to acquire older and older pieces, but also discover more token coinage and other alternatives people have used to facilitate trade.

Speaking of acquiring things. This month I have continued with the theme of pursuing pieces from Asia. This time from Japan:

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From the picture above we can see a cast lead-bronze Japanese 100 Mon piece. Dating from the late Edo and early Meiji era, it was cast some time between 1835 and 1870. Most pieces were cast in either Tokyo, Osaka or Fukagawa, but there is evidence more provincial mints also produced samples. It features on the rim, on the long oval side, two cherry blossom stamps. In line with the central square hole.
Japan during this period went from a long period of peace and prosperity in the long running Edo period (1600-1858), during which it was ruled by the Tokugawa shogunate which enforced a policy of isolationism. This seclusion would later be ended, and Japan opened up to the rest of the world after the American Perry expedition in 1854-3. It was through the Meiji period (1868-1912) that Japan would receive plenty of Western influences and would begin to industrialise. With power transferred back to the Emperor after the fall of the Shogunate in 1868, Japan was free to expand it’s influence and it’s Empire.

Collection update November ’17

This time I have gotten some new coins with a different flavour for a change. As it is nice to step outside the bounds of Europe and N. America every so often!

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All these coins originate from India (except the 5p of course haha) and are especially small in comparison to any other coin I have in my collection. They have a broad range of dates during India’s very long history. Dating from before colonial activity to British rule.

The first coin is a small silver 1 Chakram piece (top left) dating from 1860-1901. This is by far the smallest coin I have ever held in my hands, and now keep it in a small bag in case I ever drop it (which I have done and spent a furtive 20 minutes searching for it again). It hails from the Travancore region of India located at the very southern tip of the sub-continent. During the period of this coins minting, the kingdom of Travancore was under direct British rule. Travancore would exist as a kingdom until 1949 when it was merged with the kingdom of Cochin. It would later form a part of the state of Kerala in 1956, with the position of king being replaced by govenor (known as a Rajpramukh) being appointed by the president of the newly formed Indian state.

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The next coin is a 1 paisa piece (bottom) from Hyderabad, located in the South central region of India. It dates from around 1763-1774, the period when the British East India Company was gradually exerting more control in the region creating presidencies and protectorates. Hyderabad wouldn’t come under the sphere of British influence until 1805 when the Maratha Empire loses in the second Anglo-Maratha war. Hyderabad itself gained it’s independence from the Mughal empire during the early 18th century when Mir Qamar-ud-Din Sidiqqi broke away from the empire and set up the Asaf Jah dynasty in control of the region. The ruler (known as the Nizam) would control Hyderabad until 1948 when he was deposed by the new Indian army in operation Polo to prevent a potentially large hostile state remaining in the middle of the newly formed country. The coin itself is rather worn, but a more detailed picture can be found here.

Finally, the last coin (top right) is a 1/2 Tonga from the Gujarat region of India, located in the far west of the country. It dates from 1512-1526. A period before any western colonial powers had an influence in the country. Much of northern India during this period was either in control or influenced by outisde muslim forces. Gujarat was no exception, and was attacked in the late 12th century, by Islamic forces from Eastern Iran. The invasion failed, but Muslim influences were transmitted peacefully due to close proximity of her neighbours. Gujarat would maintain close ties with Egypt, a powerful member of the Muslim world in the middle to late medieval period, which would later evolve to close ties with the Ottomans. Most notably in the form of working together to prevent Portuguese naval expansion in the Red Sea area. Gujarat would remain independent until it was conquered by the Mughal empire in 1572. This however would not diminish the region, as the port city of Surat would continue to flourish being the only major westward facing Indian port. This would cause the city to becoming a major trading hub on par with that of Beijing or Venice, eventually gaining the title of Bab al-Makkah (gate of Mecca).

Collection update October ’17

My acquisitions this month hail mainly from Europe and the Americas. There is also a strong theme of colonialism and empire as many of the coins I have gotten date from the 19th and early 20th centuries.

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Several of the coins were in very good condition, like the Uruguayan 4 Centesimos, and the Swedish krona in the bottom right corner of the pictures. I was also pleased with silver Russian coin on the bottom left as it is the first non-copper Imperial Russian coin I now own. However, a couple of the coins in the next picture are what I wish to focus on this month:

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Starting from the top left we have a Portuguese 40 reis, a Mexican 1/2 real, and a German East African heller. The Portuguese coin dates from 1822, and is a significant date in the history of Portugal. During the previous year (1821) the current king, John VI, had previously returned from exile in Brazil due to the Napoleonic Wars and subsequent revolt and revolution. He was invited back to Portugal to reign as king, but due to a shift in political thinking and demands made during the previous revolution, John was forced to sign a new constitution handing over several key royal perogatives to the newly formed government. He did, but his wife refused resulting in her being stripped of all royal and political powers. The following year, Brazil declared herself independent from Portugal, and John’s son Pedro crowned himself emperor of the newly independent empire. It is said that whilst in exile in Brazil, John showed a hint of prescience and told his son that Brazil would soon become independent and he should declare himself as ruler before another adventurer does.

The Mexican coin also has it’s roots in colonial empire, and also can be linked to another struggle for independence. The coin dates from 1813 when Mexico was still a colony of Spain. However, three years prior to the minting of this coin unrest spilled into violence as a revolt led by a priest called Hidalgo rose up against the injustices suffered by the poor of Mexico. This resulted in protracted fighting and violence between Mexican revolutionaries and the Spanish imperial administration. In 1811 Hidalgo is captured by the Spanish army and executed, and is succeeded by José María Morelos. Who in 1813 convened the Congress of Chilpancingo which issued the first formal declaration of independence for Mexico. Fighting would continue for a further 8 years until on the 27th September 1821 Mexico would gain her independence as a new empire under the name of New Spain.

Finally we have the German East African Heller. There is nothing special in regards to this coin, but I wanted to include it as it is the only coin from Africa I received in this small collection. It also fits the over-arching theme of colonialism and imperial powers this blog post has decided to explore. Sadly, this coin does not have ties to any independence movement. In 1909, German East Africa comprised of Burundi, Rwanda and parts of mainland Tanzania. These regions under German control suffered much like the rest of Africa under the colonial powers, with harsh regimes and indifference to the native populations. Several revolts were put down during the German administration with the last in 1907. Control of the colony was sunsequently split between the British and Belgians after Germany’s loss in WWI. The regions themselves would not gain independence from imperial administration until several decades after WWII.

Collection update September ’17

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This month I got a selection of British and Irish coins, many of which I have already shown in my collection update blog posts before. From the pictures above you can see the full range of Hibernia coins minted for Ireland during British rule, as well as a selection of coins minted for Ireland after they achieved independence in the 1920’s. Most Irish coins still retain the harp, which is a symbol of the country itself, and is commonly featured on the country’s coat of arms. An icon which has now been translated onto the Euro coins issued by the country. As well as the British and Irish coins, I also acquired a coin from Australia dated from 1913.

Although George V is shown on the obverse of the coin, Australia by this point in time had become a fully independent country from Britain after the confederation bill was passed by the UK parliament in 1901. Upon it’s independence, and it’s formation into a unified country it adopted the name Commonwealth of Australia, which can be seen on the reverse. Despite gaining independence from Britain, Australia still retained the British monarch as it’s head of state, which is still prominently featured on it’s money today. Similar to Canada, and other former colonial possessions.

Finally, another coin I received was a British penny dating from 1797. From the reign of George III.

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Sadly, the coin itself is in bad condition, and much of detail has been lost. However, the profile of George and Britannia can be made out. One thing which, although not clearly seen in the pictures, is that the legends and date which decorate the edge are still clear. This coin does need a special mention as it is the first modern British penny minted. Prior to this, there was no official mass produced penny by the government except the silver penny which had been discontinued years beforehand and was the mainstay of British coinage for much of the previous eight centuries. Due to it’s size and distinctive shape, it is commonly referred to as a ‘Cartwheel’ penny due to it’s uncanny resemblance to a cartwheel.

The new £10 note.

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This week sees the general release of the new ten pound note here in the UK, replacing the old note which had featured Charles Darwin since the year 2000. This change is only the fifth iteration of the banknote in it’s 258 year history.

The new design features Jane Austin, along with Godmersham Park (the residence of her brother who she visited often, and was the inspiration for a number of her novels) and Jane Austin’s writing desk. The use of Austin on the £10 note will be the first time a female has ever been represented, who isn’t the Queen, on a denomination larger than £5. She will also be the third woman to ever be featured, joining others such as Florence Nightingale, and Elizabeth Fry. SDC12454

The new banknote is slightly smaller than the old one, and is made of the exact same material as the new Winston Churchill £5 note which was put into general circulation last year. It also keeps the same orange colour as it’s predecessor. The Bank of England has also included a new feature not present on any other previous banknotes to enable the blind and partially sighted to identify the banknote, as evidenced by the raised bumps to the left side of the banknote.

Finally, in addition to being made from new polymer materials, the production process allows the note to have a carbon footprint 8% lower than it’s paper predecessor.

The next note to be released in the UK will be the £20 note, set to be put into general circulation in 2020. This note will replace Adam Smith design with JMW Turner.

Collection update August ’17

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This month’s additions are a pair of bronze coins from Morocco and yet again another token. I feel like I am getting more tokens these days than I am actual coins! However, this token is a window into local Welsh history particular to Anglesey.

Now the story of this token references back to some of my previous blog posts, in particular, that during the late 18th century it was the practice of the British Royal Mint not to produce coinage of low numeric value as it was seen as to cheapen the name of currency. This produced a lot of problems for the lower classes whose daily lives revolved around transactions involving small denomination coins. As we can see, one of the outcomes was the evasion money I mentioned last month. Another type of coinage which appeared was coins being minted by businesses and companies. The token I acquired this month is known as the Anglesey Penny, or as it is more well known, the Druid Head Penny. These coins were produced by the Parys Mountain Copper works to help facilitate the payment of it’s workers at it’s site in Amlwch, Anglesey. This can be clearly seen by the PWC monogram on the reverse of the coin, and although the picture is faded due to wear and time, a legend around the monogram promises to pay the bearer ‘one penny’ by the company itself. The coins were first produced in 1787 and continued on until 1821 when it was made illegal to produce them. During this time frame the idea became popular and a half-penny was minted as well, with production of these half-pennies starting in 1788 a year after the penny itself was introduced. So why the druid motif? This harkens back to ancient Anglesey history where the island was the spiritual home of the druidic order in Britain. It therefore was the main focal point for the ancient Celtic religion until the druids were exterminated by the Romans in 77AD, which resultantly brought the celtic tribes under their control.

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The other two coins which hail from Morocco are 2 bronze cast coins with the denomination of 2 Falus. The dates are faded and worn and hard to discern, but both date from around 1275-1277 in the Arabic calendar (1858-1860). At this time Morocco was ruled by Sultan Abd al-Rahman, who would die in 1859. Morocco would continue to use cast bronze coins until machine milled coinage was introduced in 1882. Apart from the cast bronze coins, Morocco also used silver and gold hammered coins for larger denominations. Uniqely, there was no fixed exchange rate between the different denominations of coins Morocco produced, nor were the weights of the individual coins regulated. Thus, it would be safe to assume that after haggling the price with the seller, you can further spend more happy hours haggling about the exchange rate.

Checking Change

The inspiration behind this entry came when receiving change from an automated machine in a local supermarket. Whilst checking the coins to see if it came to the right amount I realised that one of the 2p pieces I was given was not actually a coin intended for use in the UK, but was minted for use in Gibraltar. Not being bothered, because it was not a coin I had in my collection, it got me thinking about other coins I have received in my change which had a point of origin elsewhere. This usually resulted in many destinations from British dominions such as the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. However, the train of thought soon evolved into special minting of commemorative coins for general circulation.

Now here in the UK we have many such coins in the form of 50p and £2 pieces. Though scarce at first, the process has become rather endemic with many pieces being struck each year to commemorate people and events. The latest run being the second release of 5 more 50p coins of Beatrix Potter characters. Some of these coins though to a collector have value beyond what is struck on the face. With some of the more notable examples being the Kew Gardens or the WWF 50p pieces. This got me thinking further and I started scouring my collection for examples beyond the borders of the UK, and the picture below shows some of the examples I have dug out:

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Italy – (Going clockwise from far left) 200th anniversary of the council of state 200 Lira, World Food Day 1981 200 Lira, UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) 100 Lira, 100th anniversary of the birth of Marconi 100 Lira.
India – Grow More Food coin from the UN FAO 50 Paise.
New Zealand – 10th Commonwealth Games, Christchurch 1974 1 Dollar
Spain – 1982 Football World Cup 25 and 50 Pesetas.
Australia – 12th Commonwealth Games, Brisbane 1982 50 Cents.
Argentina – 150th anniversary of the removal of the Spanish viceroy 1 Peso.
Mexico – Centenary of the defense of Veracruz 20 Pesos.
France – (Pre-Euro) 50th anniversary of the French Resistence 2 Francs
Canada – (Clockwise from top) Confederation centenary 1 Cent, Year of Volunteers 10 Cents, Creation of the territory of Nunavut 1999 2 Dollars, Centenary of the Canadian Mounty 25 Cents.
USA – (Left to right) Bicentennial of American independence 1 Dollar and 1 Quarter. (I haven’t included American state quarters in the photo due to the large number of them, and pure laziness on my part)
Various – (From Left to right, top to bottom) Various 2 Euro coins collected during trips to Europe, the countries are as follows – Finland, Belgium, Germany, Austria (x2), and France.
Algeria – Two 5 Dirham coins

Finally, as an aside, the photo below shows the various number of 50p’s and £2 coins I have managed to collect by getting them in my pocket change. As a final note, I guess it is a good practice to check your change for more than to see if it is the right amount. Sometimes you find something a little bit more special and unexpected.

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