474 V DAVIS. 



The third figure is the copy of a copper note of the last reign of the Ming 

 dynasty. It is a curious example of an attempt to stem the rapid deprecia- 

 tion of the notes by making these of real intrinsic value. I was inclined, at 

 first view, to think it was a copper plate for printing paper notes but the 

 inscription shews this idea to be untenable. The figure is the same size as 

 the original and must have weighed nearly, if not quite, as much as the 200 

 cash it represented. I have extracted it from Chi chin eo chien lu, a numis- 

 matic work, the learned author of which describing it says: At the beginning 

 of the Ming dynasty, they issued notes after the fashion of the Yuan and Chin 

 dynasties, these notes being all made of paper. Near the end of the twelfth 

 year of the reign Ts'ung Chen, (A. D. 1239), Chang Chli of the Hamlin College 

 presented a memorial recommending notes to be cast from copper. This is 

 one of these copper notes. It is of the value of 200 cash, and in the centre 

 there is a picture of two strings of cash, just as in the large paper notes of the 

 period, of which the value was 1000 cash, there are figured ten such strings. 

 The remainder of the inscription is the same as that of the said paper money, 

 with the addition in the middle of the lower part, of seven characters meaning 

 'Moulded in changed form in the cyclical year chi mao (A. D. 12.39); of the 

 period Ts'ung Chen.' On the reverse three square seals are moulded in rehef, 

 each smaller than the one above: Ta Ming Pao chih chik yin, 'Seal of the 

 Money note Department of the great Ming'; Pao ch'ao Ti chu ssu yin, 'Seal 

 of the Inspectorate of Money Notes'; Chu isao pao ch'ao chu yin, 'Seal of the 

 Bureau for casting money notes'. Near the upper border of the plate, there 

 is a small round hole. The original date of Hung Wu, the founder of the 

 dynasty, was retained all through on the notes and we find it here at the end 

 of the inscription. This is the only specimen of a copper note that has been, 

 as far as I know, preserved. At the time it was cast, the Ming dynasty was 

 near its fall and probably very few of these metallic notes were circulated. 



A typographical error in the article from which we have quoted 

 has converted the "cyclical year chi mao'' from A.D. 1639 into 1239, 

 The date 1639 is indeed used in connection with this note or plate by 

 Dr. Bushell himself in opening this very article. This correction 

 probably carries with it the correction of the date of the twelfth year 

 of the reign of Ts'ung Chen, (A.D. 1239) a few lines above, to 1639. 



It is not within the purview of this communication to discuss 

 seriously the question whether Dr. Bushell was right when he aban- 

 doned the idea that this copper plate was for printing notes and con- 

 cluded that the language oL the inscription made clear that it was 

 cast in that form for use as money, this particular example being the 

 only known specimen preserved. It is clear however that if the casting 

 is unmistakably a coin, it has no right to be considered in a paper that 

 deals exclusively with paper money. The plate or note is a reproduc- 

 tion in its general appearance of a note of the emission of the Hung- 



