One of the earliest banknotes in history. Ming Dynasty. Hong Wu Emperor. 1368-1398. Ex Sophus Black collection, Norway. Issued by the 1st Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, this banknote is exchangeable for 1 kuan of cash which is the equivalent of 1000 AE cash coins. The inscription warns of penalty of death for forgers and awarding all of the culprit's assets to the informants. it is the 3rd earliest banknotes issued in history after the Song Dynasty Jiaozhi and Yuan Dynasty notes
Thanks.. it does not hold the honor of being the earliest but it is 3rd in the list.. way before western adoption
I wrote a short paper in grad school about the grown and development of paper money, starting in the Song Dynasty
Not sure really.. The Chinese do not keep records of issues (especially so old) and serial numbers on paper notes. This note is not redeemed or activated as you can see no traces of ink written date or serial on it. In fact it is likely many were destroyed or badly damaged after hundreds of years
Is it a pictograph note? For those who can not read. The center of the left photo look like ten stacks of coins to show the value of note.
Yes to some degree. It shows 10 bundles of coins. This correlates to an expected 100 coins per bundle × 10 bundles = 1000 coins. The inscription says 1 Kuan which is that equivalent
For some reason I neglected to put figures in the paper, but nonetheless... This was one of the first papers I wrote for grad school so it's not hugely good, but a decent intro, I suppose.
Excellent write up.. it gives a good background and info on the introduction of paper currencies from the Song leading to the Official government issues under the Yuan. in fact this system lasted way up to the Republic years as merchants and private lenders still used this in the form of private notes.. Thank you so much for sharing
