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Coinage of Asia

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The earliestcoinage of Asiais also the oldest coinage of the world.[citation needed]Coins were invented several times independently of each other. The earliest coins from the Mediterranean region are from the kingdom ofLydia,and are now dated ca. 600 BCE. The dating of the earliest coins ofChinaandIndiais difficult and the subject of debate. Nevertheless, the first coins of China are at least as old as the earliest Lydian coins and possibly older, while the earliest coins of India seems to have appeared at a later stage.[citation needed]

Pre-modern Chinese coins were always cast bronze or brass issues. This concept was later adopted by Japan, Korea and Annam (Vietnam), and also influenced regions in South-East Asia.

The Lydian coins consisted of discs or lumps ofelectrum(a natural gold/silver alloy), and were stamped on two sides with dies. This concept spread rapidly to neighbouring Greek city states inAsia Minorand across theAegean Sea,and eventually throughout the Mediterranean. When Lydia was conquered byAchaemenid Persia,the production of Lydian coins continued in the guise of silver Siglos and goldDarics.Other parts of Persia only began to mint coins at the time ofAlexander the Great's conquest.

Coinage of Indiabegan in the 7th century BCE[citation needed],as small native states known as theMahajanapadasbegan to mint coins of silver. The concept of coinage, and many design elements, spread across the Indian subcontinent within centuries. India subsequently absorbed and modified numerous influences, including Greek, Roman, Arabic and Persian.

Coinage of East Asia[edit]

China[edit]

Main article:Chinese coins
Ancient Chinese knife and spade coins of theZhouandXindynasties, and some others. Some appear to be forgeries.
A Chinese coin of theMing dynasty,inscribedVĩnh nhạc thông bảo (Yong Le tong bao)orYong Le currency.Yong Le was theregnal nameof Emperor Zhu Di (1402–24).

Some time around the 7th century BCE, coins shaped like utensils emerged in China. In most regions, spade-shaped coins were issued, while knife-shaped coins were issued in the North-East. In the state ofChu(in Southern China), small oval bronze pieces were issued. Numismatists andarchaeologistsbelieve that the minting of coins was not organized by the central authority, i.e. the royal court ofZhou.The spade and knife coins underwent a number of changes in size, shape and inscriptions.

Cowrie shellsare found in archaeological excavations that date back to theShangera (2nd millennium BCE). These might have been used as currency, but there is not agreement as to whether they did serve a currency purpose or not. Various other bronze artifacts have been described as money (e.g. "bridge money" ); these are now believed to be various types of ornaments, not related to currency.

During the 4th century BCE, a new type of coins, the "ban liang" type, was introduced in the Western state ofQin.The ban liang coins were round, cast bronze coins with a hole in the center, inscribed "ban liang", or half liang (a weight unit). Qin eventually conquered the other states of China and replaced the defunct Zhou dynasty with theQin dynastyin 221 BCE. The monetary systems of China were now standardized, based on the Qin model, and knife and spade coins were replaced with ban liang coins. The round, cast base metal coins of the Far East are known ascash coins.The cash coins were customarily strung together with hempen threads into standard-size strings of cash, representing a fixed value.

In 118 BCE, the ban liang coins were replaced by another type, the "wu zhu" type, that was inscribed "wu zhu", or five zhu (another weight unit). These were minted until 621 CE, shortly after the establishment of theTang dynasty.Being minted for almost a thousand years combined, the ban liang and wu zhu coins come in a great number of varieties. The uncovering of the history of these varieties is an ongoing process.

The coins issued during theTang dynastywere unusual in their day, in the sense that the obverse inscription consisted of four characters instead of two. The "Kai Yuan tong bao" coins were minted throughout the Tang era, and subsequent Chinese coin issues (up to around 1900) were based on this precedent.

During theSong,MingandQingdynasties, the first two (out of four) characters of the obverse inscription represented the name of the current regnal era, thereby indicating the emperor under which the individual coin was minted. A system of discrete calligraphical variation was employed, thereby facilitating identification of the mint that was responsible for minting any given coin. During theSongandMingdynasties, the reverse was often blank, although some carry the regnal year of the emperor or some other inscription. During theQing dynasty,the reverse explicitly indicated the mint, initially in Chinese, but later inManchu.Unlike theSongandMingdynasties,Qing dynastycoins come in one denomination only until the mid 19th century. During theTaiping Rebellion,inflated large size coins (e.g. coins representing 50 or 100 cash/units) were minted.

During the colonial era, foreign silver coins entered China1.Traditionally, China did not have a silver coinage, although silver was stored in the shape of silver bars (so-calledsycees). As the Chinese harbours were forcibly opened for foreign trade by the colonial powers, foreign silver coins poured into China, and profoundly altered the monetary system and modes of economic transaction. The production of traditional cash coins ceased, and various provinces began, during the 1880s, to acquire modern equipment, capable of minting modern Western style coinage, akin to the coinage that was being introduced through foreign trade. This put the traditional cash coinage to rest, while the modern coinage of China began.

Japan[edit]

See also:Japanese mon (currency),Japanese ryō,andKoban (Japanese gold coin)
Japanese coins of the 17th to 19th centuries

Coinage in Japan initially consisted of Chinese coins that arrived in Japan through trade. It is not clear when the influx of Chinese coins began. In the late 7th century CE, domestically minted coins commenced. Such domestically minted coins, modelled on theTang dynastyprecedent, continued to be emitted until 958. These coins were minted in comparatively small numbers and amounted only to a supplement, not an alternative, to the imported coins. For centuries to come, there was no domestic Japanese coinage, except some interimistically manufactured reproductions of pre-existing coin types. Cash coins were known as "mon" inJapanese.

Only with the unification of Japan achieved byOda Nobunaga,Toyotomi HideyoshiandTokugawa Ieyasu(late 16th, early 17th centuries), a proud domestic coinage was revived. Base metal coins were modelled on the Chinese cash type, while various types of standardized silver and gold bars served as precious metal currency. Such coins continued to be minted until the 1860s, when theShogunatewas abolished and a series of modernizing reforms began, including modernization of Japanese currency.

Korea[edit]

See also:Korean munandKorean yang

Issues based on theChinese cashwere issued from 1888 to 1892 of 1 hwan = 1000munor cash. Replaced in 1892 with 1 hwan = 5yang.

Tibet[edit]

Tibetan coins were struck in Lhasa and in the Kong-po province between 1763 and 1954. Since 1959 Chinese currency replaces that of Tibet.

Coinage of South Asia[edit]

India[edit]

Main article:Indian coinage
Apunch-marked coinfrom theNanda Empire.
A silver drachm of king Antialkidas (c. 145–135 B.C.), an Indo-Greek ruler in the Indus region.

The first Indian coins were either round, square or long sticks of silver with punch marks issued under various kingdoms starting from around 600 BCE onwards. Issuers includedKashi,Kosala,theMagadha Empire,Kuru,Panchala,Taxila,Gandhara,Kamboja,Avantiin theNarbadaValley,SaurashtraPeninsula, and the EasternDeccan.The first coins issued by a unified Indian empire was from theMaurya Empire,though they were similar to the older issues. During the 4th century BC, afterAlexander the Great's conquest of theIndus ValleyandPunjab region,the Greek currencyDrachmawas introduced and was carried on byBactria,Indo-ScythiansandKushans.All these were of theAtticaweight standard.

Coinage of Southeast Asia[edit]

Funan, Dvaravat and Khmer Empires[edit]

Not much is known of the currency of theFunan,Dvaravati,Chenlaor Kambuja inCambodiaand theKhmer Empirefrom 100 to 1370 CE. The origin of the coins were based on ancientIndian coinagethat has been more stylised over themillennia.Funan and Dvaravat coins were silver andbronzeorbrass.Khmer coins were made ofleadand came in 3 weights, 1unit, 3unit and 6unit, a 10unit coin may exist but is debatable. There is not much variation to these coins when compared toIndian coinage,Roman coinageorGreek coins.

Annam[edit]

Main article:Vietnamese cash

pope coins were based on the Chinese cash coinage, mostly imitations at first then issued with Chinese characters but in Vietnamese.

Indonesia/Malaysia region[edit]

These coins were mainly issued by the Chinese diaspora andIslamicsultanates all over theIndonesianarchipelagowho minted coins based mainly on theChinese cash coinage.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  • Bruce II, Colin R., Deyell, John S., Rhodes, Nicholas and Spengler, William F.: The Standard Guide to South Asian Coins and Paper Money since 1556. First Edition. Krause Publications, Iola, Wisconsin, 1981.
  • T.K.Mallon-Mc Corgray: The coins and history of Asia, July 1996.
  • Mitchiner, Michael: Non-Islamic States & Western Colonies AD 600–1979. Oriental Coins and their Values. Hawkins Publications, London, 1979.
  • Pham Quoc Quan, Nguyen Dinh Chien, Nguyen Quoc Binh and Xiong Bao Kang: Tien Kim Loai Viet Nam. Vietnamese Coins. Bao Tang Lich Su Viet Nam. National Museum of Vietnamese History. Ha noi, 2005.
  • Pridmore, F.: The Coins of the British Commonwealth of Nations to the end of the reign of George VI, 1952. Part 4 India, vol. 2, East India Company Presidency Series c. 1642- 1835-. Spink & Son Ltd, London, 1975 (275 pp., illus.).
  • Pridmore, F.: The Coins of the British Commonwealth of Nations to the end of the reign of George VI, 1952. Part 4 India, vol. 1, Uniform coinage East India Company 1835–58. Imperial Period 1858–1947. Spink & Son Ltd, London, 1980 (245 pp., illus.).
  • Rajgor, Dilip: Standard Catalogue of Sultanate Coins of India. Amrapali Publications, Bombay, 1991 (230 pp. illus.).
  • Scholten, C.: The Coins of the Dutch Overseas Territories 1601–1948. J. Schulman, Amsterdam, 1953

External links[edit]

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