The yang (양/兩) was the currency of

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

between 1892 and 1902. It was subdivided into 10 ''jeon'' (전/錢) or 100 ''bun'' (분/分); and 5 yang = 1 ''hwan'' (환/圜).

Etymology

The word yang (兩) is a

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...

of the Chinese "

tael Tael (),"Tael" entry
at the

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

). Fun (pronounced "pun" but spelt with an "f" on the coins), is also a cognate of a Chinese word,

, which is equal to yuan, whilst hwan is a cognate of yuan itself.

History

Just before the yang was introduced, a small number of coins denominated in ''hwan'' (환/圜) and ''mun'' (문/文) were minted (1 won = 1000 mun). It is unclear whether these coins circulated. The 1 won and 5 yang coins were equal in size, containing 416

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

s of silver. However, before 1892, the main currency of Korea was the mun, a denomination based on the Chinese cash (

). The mintage and circulation of modern currency began during the last years of the

Joseon Dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

as a result of contact with the West, using equipment to produce machine-struck coins purchased from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 1883. The Osaka Copper Works, a Japanese firm foreseeing profit in the coin minting business, suggested to the Korean government to establish another mint in the port city of

Incheon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

. Incheon was selected by the Japanese because it would then be more easy to bring mint machinery from Japan to Korea. In November of the year 1892, a new mint was established in the city of Incheon which led to the old mint for machine-struck in Seoul to be demolished. New machinery and raw materials used for producing milled coinage were imported from Japan.GXSeries.com
Korean coin type set (1888 - 1910)
Retrieved: 03 October 2019. The new Incheon Mint (仁川典局) was entirely staffed by Japanese technicians from the Osaka Copper Works and from the

Japan Mint The is an Independent Administrative Institution of the Japanese government, responsible for producing and circulating the coins of Japan. The agency has its head office in Osaka with branches in Saitama and Hiroshima. The Japan Mint does not pr ...

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

. The Incheon Mint prepared a completely new line of coins with very heavily inspired Japanese designs, this series also included the first

copper-nickel Cupronickel or copper-nickel (CuNi) is an alloy of copper that contains nickel and strengthening elements, such as iron and manganese. The copper content typically varies from 60 to 90 percent. (Monel is a nickel-copper alloy that contains a minimu ...

of Korea. The Incheon Mint was relocated to the Yongsan Mint (龍山典局) in the year 1900, the Yongsan Mint officially opened on 4 May 1900. However, the timing of this relocation was very unfortunate as the Korean Empire had started the construction of the

Gyeongin Line The Gyeongin Line (Gyeonginseon) is a railway mainline in South Korea, currently connecting Guro station in Seoul and Incheon. Commuter services along the line through operates into Seoul Subway Line 1. History The Gyeongin Line was the fir ...

which opened on 18 September 1899 and allowed for coins minted in Incheon to be transported at a wider distance. Minting equipment from Incheon was moved to Yongsan in September of the year 1900 and cupronickel coins at this time were struck in small quantities. The Yongsan Mint would close in November 1904 after the Japanese Empire took the rights of issuing money for circulation in Korea. During the introduction of the Korean yang following the adoption of the silver standard, the dates on the coinage still followed the Kaeguk calendar which was based on the founding of Joseon in the year 1392 which was the year Kaeguk 1 (開國元年). But following the proclamation of the

Korean Empire The Korean Empire () was a Korean monarchical state proclaimed in October 1897 by Emperor Gojong of the Joseon dynasty. The empire stood until Japan's annexation of Korea in August 1910. During the Korean Empire, Emperor Gojong oversaw the Gwa ...

in the year 1897 the era names or regnal years of the

Emperor of Korea Imperial titles were used in various historical Korean states before the 14th century and at the turn of the 20th century: Early Korean states used "great king", "greatest king", and "holy king"; later Korean states used "emperor". Korean monarc ...

were used instead. King Gojong became Emperor Gwangmu and in the year 1897 the year Gwangmu 1 (光武元年) appeared on the coins. The Gwangmu regnal year was used well after the adoption of the

Korean won The Korean won ( ko, 원 (圓), ) or Korean Empire won (Korean: 대한제국 원), was the official currency of the Korean Empire between 1902 and 1910. It was subdivided into 100 ''jeon'' (; ko, 전 (錢), ). Etymology Won is a c ...

until the year 1907, when the regnal years changed due to the ascension of Emperor Yunghui making the Gregorian year 1907 into Yunghui 1 (隆熙元年). Various

names of Korea There are various names of Korea in use today, all derived from ancient kingdoms and dynasties. The modern English name "Korea" is an exonym derived from the name Goryeo, also spelled ''Koryŏ'', and is used by both North Korea and South Korea in ...

were displayed on the coins, these include "Great Joseon" (大朝鮮), "Joseon" (朝鮮), and "Great Han" (大韓). Around the time of the trial adoption of the

gold standard A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from the la ...

in 1901, gold and silver coins were in circulation along with some Japanese bank notes. The yang was replaced by the won at a rate of 1 won = 10 yang.

Coins

Coins were minted in the denominations of 1 fun, 5 fun, ¼ yang, 1 yang, 5 yang and 1 hwan. The coins all carried the title of the state, "Great

Joseon Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

" (Great Korea; 대조선; 大朝鮮), then just "

" (Korea; 조선; 朝鮮) and then

Daehan There are various names of Korea in use today, all derived from ancient kingdoms and dynasties. The modern English name "Korea" is an exonym derived from the name Goryeo, also spelled ''Koryŏ'', and is used by both North Korea and South Korea in ...

(대한; 大韓). The name of the country on these new coins, as it had been on the coins issued in the year Kaeguk 497, was "Great Korea". But on the insistence of the Chinese resident-general

Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 1859 – 6 June 1916) was a Chinese military and government official who rose to power during the late Qing dynasty and eventually ended the Qing dynasty rule of China in 1912, later becoming the Emperor of China. H ...

the Chinese character "大" (''dae'') was removed from coins produced in the years Kaeguk 502, Kaeguk 503, and early Kaeguk 504. The reason why Yuan Shikai demanded this was because Korea, which at the time was a

vassal state A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to ...

of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

, said that the inclusion of the character "大" was an affront to the Chinese Empire. Until 1897, the dynastic dating system was used, where the founding year of the

, 1392, was year 1. Starting in 1897, the regnal year of the monarch was used instead. Because the era name changed into the regnal name during the transition into the Korean Empire only a very limited amount of coins was struck during this era. Because the

cupronickel Cupronickel or copper-nickel (CuNi) is an alloy of copper that contains nickel and strengthening elements, such as iron and manganese. The copper content typically varies from 60 to 90 percent. (Monel is a nickel-copper alloy that contains a minimu ...

¼ yang was the most profitable to produce this denomination saw a large amount of counterfeiting of it, the amount of counterfeits in Korea became so uncontrollable that the imperial government declared them to be

legal tender Legal tender is a form of money that courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment for any monetary debt. Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything which when offered ("tendered") in pa ...

, this policy proved to be disastrous as the public would soon distrust the coinage. Most of the coins of the Korean yang were produced at the Incheon Mint (仁川典局) but from 1898 coins were also produced at the

Yongsan Yongsan District (, ) is one of the 25 districts of Seoul, South Korea. Yongsan has a population of 231,685 (2020) and has a geographic area of , and is divided into 19 '' dong'' (administrative neighborhoods). Yongsan is located in central Seoul ...

Mint (龍山典局). 1 fun coins were produced during the years 1892 (開國五百一年), 1893 (開國五百二年), 1895 (開國五百四年), and 1896 (開國五百五年). It’s notable that they weren’t produced in 1894 (開國五百三年). All 1 fun coins were produced at the Incheon Mint. 5 fun coins were made during the years 1892 (開國五百一年), 1893 (開國五百二年), 1894 (開國五百三年), 1895 (開國五百四年), 1896 (開國五百五年), 1898 (光武二年), 1899 (光武三年), and 1902 (光武六年), but not during the years 1897 (光武元年), 1900 (光武四年), and 1901 (光武五年). There are varieties of the 5 fun with small characters (小子), medium-sized characters (中子), and large characters (大字). All 5 fun coins produced until 1899 were minted at the Incheon Mint, while the 5 fun coins of 1902 were produced at the Yongsan Mint. The ¼ yang coins (or 2 jeon and 5 pun coins) were produced during the years 1892 (開國五百一年), 1893 (開國五百二年), 1894 (開國五百三年), 1895 (開國五百四年), 1896 (開國五百五年), 1897 (光武元年), 1898 (光武二年), 1899 (光武三年), 1900 (光武四年), and 1901 (光武五年). The varieties of the ¼ yang coins include those produced with small characters (小子) and large characters (大字). Until the year 1897 they were produced at the Incheon Mint, but from 1898 they were produced at the Yongsan Mint. The 1 hwan coin was only produced in the year Kaeguk 502 (開國五百二年) or 1893 in the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

Counterfeit cupronickel ¼ yang coins

The majority of the ¼ yang coins were dated Gwangmu 2 (1898) and the coin dies used to produce them were replaced with others that had the same date of issue after they had become worn out. Official coin dies were also rented out to licensees, and at one point even to non-licensees. The Japanese first struck cupronickel coins in Osaka that were later imported to Korea, then they imported the machinery used to manufacture them and struck them in Korea. Some of the unofficially produced ¼ yang coins can not be distinguished from the genuine specimens. The Korean government would eventually establish a system for designating cupronickel coins as being "Official", "Class-A counterfeits", and "Class-B counterfeits", these coins all had varying market values. Even the government produced "official" coins were accepted at a discount, this was because base cupronickel coins had completely flooded the market. This uncontrollable situation would lead to more than half of all currency circulating in Korea at the time being cupronickel coins. Removing these coins from circulation would prove to be a tough predicament for the Japanese during the latter half of the 1900s.

List of Korean yang coinage patterns

Banknotes

A series was printed by the Treasury Department but never issued. The denominations were 5 yang, 10 yang, 20 yang, and 50 yang.

Overstruck 5 fun coins that were used as counterfeit Chinese 10 ''wén'' coins

Not long after these new copper coins were introduced, black market counterfeit versions of the 10 '' wén'' appeared, illegal mints or "private mints" (局私) opened all over China and started producing more coins than the Qing government's set quotas allowed there to be circulating on the market. Both Chinese and foreigners soon started producing struck cash coins of inferior quality often with traces of the Korean 5 fun coins they were overstruck on, or with characters and symbols not found on official government issued coins.

began minting modern-style machine-struck copper coins in 1892, which was 8 years before the Qing dynasty did so in China. These coins were often minted by Korean businessmen and former Japanese

Samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

(specifically ''

Rōnin A ''rōnin'' ( ; ja, 浪人, , meaning 'drifter' or 'wanderer') was a samurai without a lord or master during the feudal period of Japan (1185–1868). A samurai became masterless upon the death of his master or after the loss of his master's ...

'') looking to make a profit on exchanging the low value copper coins into silver dollars as a single Chinese silver dollar had the

purchasing power Purchasing power is the amount of goods and services that can be purchased with a unit of currency. For example, if one had taken one unit of currency to a store in the 1950s, it would have been possible to buy a greater number of items than would ...

of 1000 Korean fun. The majority of the counterfeit coins bear the inscription that they were minted in either

Zhejiang province Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiangs ...

Shandong province Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizatio ...

, but they circulated all over the coastal regions of China. Because the hand-operated presses used by the counterfeiters did not exert enough pressure on the coins to sufficiently obliterate the inscriptions and symbols on the Korean 5 fun coins, the counterfeit Qing dynasty 10 ''wén'' coins made using this method would usually exhibit a combination of both the Chinese Da-Qing Tongbi and Korean 5 fun designs. For example there can still be traces of a wreath surrounding the dragon or minor traces of the original

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

inscription. Ye Zhenming (叶真铭) for qianbi (钱币
揭秘"韩改版"铜元(叶真铭)。
Published: 发布日期:12-01-18 08:15:49 泉友社区新闻来源:www.jibi.net 作者:叶真铭。 Retrieved: 3 July 2017. (in

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...

using

Simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters used in mainland China, Malaysia and Singapore, as prescribed by the ''Table of General Standard Chinese Characters''. Along with traditional Chinese characters, they are one o ...

)

Notes

References

Sources

* * * {{Historical currencies of Korea Currencies of Korea Modern obsolete currencies Joseon dynasty 1892 establishments in Korea 1902 disestablishments in Asia