246 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY. 



ous sources as to the notes emitted after 806 A.D. and that a few scat- 

 tered specimens of some of the various emissions remain in existence, 

 while it is said, that no other mention of those earlier notes has been 

 met with in Chinese literature than that accredited to this particular 

 writer. 



The acquisition by myself in 1910 of a Ming note emitted probably 

 about 1375, led to correspondence and investigation on my part. 

 Int^est in the subject was revived in the fall of 1914 by my securing 

 possession of fourteen of these old notes, two of which dated back to 

 the Tang Dynasty, somewhere about 850 A.D., and of course investi- 

 gation on my part was thereby stimulated. The circumstances 

 connected with the purchase of the first of these notes were as follows : 



In the latter part of the year 1910, I received a catalogue from a 

 London book-seller which contained the following item: 



"Chinese Bank Note. A genuine specimen of the earliest known Bank 

 Note, being one issued during the reign of the Emperor, Hung Wu (1368- 

 1398). 12| by 8^ ins. The inscription enclosed by elaborate ornamental 

 border, the whole being printed from a wood block; mounted on limp board, 

 with embroidered work at back; worn in places." 



The earliest European note was issued by the Bank of Stockholm about 

 three centuries after the above. There is a- similar example in the British 

 Museum, which is the only one known to me. 



Further correspondence revealed the fact that the description of 

 the note, except as to the mounting was taken from labels at the 

 British Museum. A friend in London, at my instance, took a look 

 at the specimen which was offered for sale, and although not an expert 

 in such matters, expressed himself as satisfied that it was genuine and 

 I purchased it. 



At that time I knew nothing about Chinese paper-money. The 

 statement that the specimen was a bank-note I rejected, as improba- 

 ble, but the error of describing these government emissions as bank- 

 notes is one that is frequently committed by writers on the subject, 

 and in this particular case may perhaps be charged to the labels of the 

 British Museum. 



In the spring of 1911 I wrote to one of the curators in that institu- 

 tion asking about specimens of Chinese currency in their possession, 

 and found that the Museum at that time had two notes precisely alike, 

 both of the Ming Dynasty (1368, 1398) and each for one kwan. One 

 was procured in 1890. The other in 1902. 



Marco Polo was in China about one hundred years before the date 



