In a recent search on Korean coins (my obsession), I found this 1990s urban legend, direct from the land of conspiracy theories: South Korea. I bet you didn't know that "images" were secretly placed in the designs of South Korean currency, huh? Just in time for Halloween, the story goes... Years ago, a "Mr. Kim," the president of the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation (aka The Korean Mint, or KOMSCO) was away from Korea on a business trip overseas. While he was gone, his daughter, Kim Min-ji, was abducted and murdered (and dismembered, to boot). Her murderer was never caught. To appease the ghost of his deceased daughter, the president of the Mint conspired with others to have images of her body parts, and other clues, placed in the designs of the currency being minted. How doing something like this is supposed to appease a ghost, I don't know. Anyway, you can see the surreptitious inclusions of Kim Min-ji's body on the following currency: (Oh my God!...) This is supposed to be her head (mutilated and decomposed!). Yeah, there's supposed to be head in Admiral Yi's beard there, somewhere. Maybe this will help you visualize it: Okay, so she's not wearing a yellow shirt on the coin, nor is she wearing black eyeliner and lipstick, but you get the idea. The crane's legs on the 500 Won coin form to make Min-ji's 'arm'. Her are her 'legs' in the design of King Sejong the Great's robe on the 10,000 Won banknote. Oh, and her name makes it into the designs, too: Here you can see the Korean letters for "Kim" on the Dabo Pagoda of the 10 Won coin: "김" On the 1,000 Won note, you can see part of Min-ji's name in English letters: "min". Oh, and the murder weapon was thrown in for good measure on the 50 Won coin. It's a sickle. Can't you tell? The Korean Mint has been asked to comment on the allegations that its former president placed these designs on the country's currency. The Mint responded that the story is baseless, and that the president of the Mint does not have the kind of control over designs that this urban legend implies. But OF COURSE they'd say that, right? Happy Halloween
Don't have any spooky stories at hand but Ootje Oxenaar, who designed a few Dutch guilder notes, also liked to build certain obscure elements into his designs. Here is a video where he talks (in English) about some of those features: his own fingerprint, a rabbit, and three references to women who were important to him. Here is an article that also shows some of those notes: http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2007/february/the-money-maker Oxenaar's first designs are not that attractive in my opinion. But the three from the late 70s/early-mid 80s (snipe, sunflower, lighthouse) are cool ... Christian
Interesting story for sure. I bought a book that has some neat items about American coins.. Fascinating Facts, Mysteries and Myths About U.S. Coins http://www.amazon.com/Fascinating-Facts-Mysteries-Myths-About/dp/1440206503 Good book if interested in these kinds of things. Got mine for $3 at Half Price Books - great bathroom book.
People thought John Sinnock's initials on the Roosevelt dime was a plot to glorify Joe Stalin. They thought Gilroy Roberts initials on the JFK half were the hammer and sickle. But the best one was the shield nickle with bars on the obverse and stars on the reverse. The Confederate Battle flag was nicknamed Stars & Bars so people thought the coin was a fiendish plot orchestrated by Nathan Bedford Forrest and the Knights of the Golden Circle to take over North and South America again.
I have to laugh at all this stuff as it just does not make any reasonable sense at all other than a story that someone made up.
No, no no. See, that's not how conspiracy theories work, okay? This is how it works: We (the conspiracy theorists) zoom in on our flying saucers and make an a completely unsubstantiated and hare-brained claim. It's then up to you (the doubters) to prove us wrong. So until you prove it wrong, the claim is TRUE. See?
It was on the whole series and prompted modified notes. Mum's superstitious. http://www.moneymuseum.ca/sets_1954DF-Ast.php