Column 專欄
Coin Casting in Traditional Korea By Don Preifer (USA) 1894. Billions of these coins were cast
Introduction
bysome 50 different departments of
Korea is a small peninsular country
thegovernment. Records show that for
whose population is composed of a
theone hundred won denomination,
single ethnic group descended from the
some 15million pieces were cast within
nomadic tribes of North Asia. Until the 20thcentury, Korea had a strict caste
system with an absolute monarch at the top, supported by a learned class, the
Pic. 1 Kon Won Chung Bo
Yang-ban ( 两班贵族 ). The majority of
The Bank of Korea once possessed some
impact on Korean culture, but there are
Pic. 2 Chosen Tong Bo
invasions, climate et al.
is what is implied by the large number
lived series ofcoins produced from 996
Pic. 3 Sang Pyong Tong Bo
(998-1392). Theearliest of these is
Tong Bo” (Pic. 2) series (orthodox
“Lasting Original Heavy Treasure”). It has the same inscription as acoin
produced during China's T'ang Dynasty, but with the additional characters Tong Guk (Lit., “Eastern Country”) added
to the reverse. All coin production was banned in Korea during the period of Mongol domination (1231-1364), but
wasresumed, if somewhat sporadically,
during Korea's Yi Dynasty (1392-1910). Notes
high as 50% in 1679, and as low as
counterfeiting operations, at least, that
of it being influenced by its neighbor,
the Kon Won Chung Bo (Pic. 1) (Lit.,
Seigniorage profits were as
potential, there were a large number of
coin casting (Korean: Ko-Ju), much
to 1105 A.D. during the Koryo Dynasty
3,137 unique examples of this series3.
10% in 18144. Because of the profit
Korea has a very long history of
China. Korea started with ten, short-
1
accounted for 1,205,957,578 pieces . So
still recognized as subsidiary coinage2
as can be expected, has had a major
Buddhism, Neo-Confucianism,
coinagefrom Aug. 1905 until Nov. 1909
even as late as 1920, cast coins were
Sangnom or commonerclass. China,
such as: Shamanism, Geomancy,
1867). Government withdrawal of cast
many of these coins had been cast, that
the population was comprised of the
numerous factors that havecontributed,
a sevenmonth period (Nov. 1866 to May
Amongst others, there is the “Chosen characters) of 1423, the “Chosen Tong Bo” series (Palbun clerkly characters) of 1625-33, and the “Sip chon Tong
Bo” series whose date of manufacture
is unknown but hotly debated amongst collectors and scholars. But the series
that best represents the casting process of traditional Korea is the “Sang Pyong
Tong Bo” (Lit., “Always EvenCurrency”) series produced almost continuously
of beheadings that took place. Some
government agencies even authorized wealthy merchants to cast coins.5
In addition to the coinage, millions
of charms and amulets were also cast,
some by government bureaus but many by private individuals.6 They share a
number of similar characteristics with coins, including; general size, weight, materials, usage, intrinsic value, etc.
In fact the Korean word for amulet or charm is Pyolchon, literally, “special coin” or “separate coin”.
from 1633 until the Kabo reform of
Edgar J. Mandel. CAST COINAGE OF KOREA, p. 15. Government-General of Chosen, ANNUAL REPORT ON ADMINISTRATION OF CHOSEN 1935-36. p.69. 3 Alan D. Craig, THE COINS OF KOREA AND AN OUTLINE OF EARLY CHINESE COINAGES, p. 45. 4 James B. Palais, POLITICS AND POLICY IN TRADITlONAL KORLA, p. 167. 5 Won Yu-Han, DEVELOPMENT 'OF KOREAN MONEY, p.61. 6 Edgar J. Mandel, TRIAL LISTING KOREAN CHA RMS AND AMULETS, p. 1. 7 Won Yu-Han, A STUDY ON THE INTRODUCTION OF GERMAN COINAGE TECHNIQUES TO KOREA, Pp. 4-11. This article states that it draws much of its information from an early article, "A KOREAN MINT" contained in the Korea Review, No. 3, Vol. 5, May 1903. This article primarily details the minting techniques of a facility in the 1880's have been unable to locate a copy of this earlier article. For an almost exact description of the casting techniques found in Won Yu-Hans article see. Homer B. Hulberts book, THE PASSING OF KOREA, Pp. 234-240, and also Alan D. Craigs book, p.28. 1 2
東 亞 泉 志
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THE JOURNAL OF EAST ASIAN NUMISMATICS