COINS

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21938, 12 November 1936, Page 6 (Supplement)

COINS

(By Chester Loring)

After philately, numismatics (the Study of coins) is probably the wrarkTs most popular hobby. Its history of numismatics stretches back Into the mists of antiquity. In •age and form the collector’s pieces Hy vary from the shiny halfcrown direct from the mint to the strange pieces of metal used by the Chinese 3000 years ago, from a tiny pierced Oriental coin no bigger than a bird shot to the 901 b piece of metal standing half as high as a man which was used by the Alaskan natives about a century ago. Now put this question to yourself: “What is a coin?” Probably you will reply: “Why, money of course.” And generally speaking

'lLhwlll be right, for the two terms l '-Swe become almost synonymous m ChriKaed countries to-day, . but | Jnkfljr speaking money is merely of exchange and may be anything from elephants’ tails and lamps of rock salt to the modern disc which is the most convenient and durable form of Money and which we call a coin. About the only restriction placed a commodity to be used as Money is that it must be difficult to ■Main. Thus, we find, that most dnlised countries adopt the gold •tandard and measure the value of ftdr currency by the amount of WA In fee country. But when the "Spaniards first went to South

jpplti they found the Aztecs with El and roofs of beaten gold, was not precious to them belt was plentiful. A man with nber of the feathers of the SiCTE quetzal bird was regarded, as IBMpy among the Aztecs. Simteeth were once mmm currency in Fiji, and HHKJI dogs and boars in N6w BMMpeleptaants’ tails were used as HHHBr in Central Africa until the ■HBlWtt came with his firearms |HBBd tails became plentiful and draped. Among certain American Indianstedscalps' were medium of exchange, one worth about two shiltime cowrie shells money all over the they me still used in UMi vmntif I*

also peculiar for its salt money. Blocks of salt are used as money in certain parts and are valued according to weight. It is wise to dodge friends there, for it is customary to give a friend a lick of one’s money, and with each lick one is so much the poorer. This money must be rather a nuisance during Ethiopia’s famous rainy season.

Sometimes primitive money is very inconvenient. Unwieldy copper pets once passed as money on the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean. But what is probably the most unwieldy of all money cranes from the island of Yap in the Caroline group of the south

Pacific. Until recently huge round pieces of stone were the medium of exchange there. Each had a hole through the centre and could only be carried by two persons thrusting a stick through the hole and walking one on either side. A stone about three feet in diameter weighed about lewt 501 b and had the value of a canoe or a wife. The stones came from another island about 300 miles away. The largest metal money ever used is shaped like a huge axe head. It is made of copper, stands half as high as a man and weighs 701 b. It comes from Alaska, where it formerly had a purchasing power equivalent to £SOO.

The oldest metal money or what can be called a coin comes from China. It is 3000 years old and is shaped like a spear or arrow head. It illustrates the way in which coins probably evolved. First the Chinese left tools or weapons as security for their debts; then they fashioned miniature replicas and left them as tokens. This theory is borne out by another coin about 900 years old which is a metal representation of a roll of cloth. By biblical and the tunes of Roman civilisation we find that coins had taken on a more or less modem form, with the effigy of the emperor stamped on one side. Strange to say many coins of this period, although among v the oldest to the world, are comparatively valueless. I have a small Roman brome sbout I<W yean old.

It bears the effigy of Constantine, Roman Emperor, founder of Constantinople (Istamboul) and is valued at sixpence. By studying the coins of a country it is sometimes possible to get an idea of the type of clothes worn there. In China and other Oriental countries where clothes do not have pockets, coins have for centuries been pierced so that they can be strung together. The same applies to-day to the coins of New Guinea where very little clothing is worn. In parts of Persia and Irak coins once took the form of gold, and silver bracelets because of the absence of pockets. From Malaya comes a peculiar kind of money known as tree money. Twelve coins were cast branching out from a central stem or tree and the coins were broken off as required; when they were all gone the stem was discarded. Presumably this method was adopted for convenience in carrying, but the convenience is questionable, for there must inevitably have been more single coins in circulation than those still on the stems.

England once had < a similar system. Originally pennies were made with a cross-shaped groove cut deep into them so that the coin was divided into four. If a man wanted a halfpenny he broke the penny in half and if he wanted a farthing he broke off a quarter. There are those who claim that in this way our modern word “farthing” evolved. Originally it was known as a “fourth-ing.” It is interesting to note that even the most primitive of coins were usually roughly circular. The square coin has never been widely popular although its would-be advantages are obvious when we are chasing a rolling coin about the pavement. Square coins are in use to-day in Ceylon and the Straits Settlements.

Coins proper must not be confused with trade tokens, although their similarity in appearance often leads to their having a place in the collections of amateur numismatologists. Trade tokens are a kind of coin issued by a private merchant or company. In former times trading companies issued tokens t 6 clients to the value of the goods they brought in for trade. The tokens could then be used at any time to purchase goods back from the company. This method avoided the clumsy system of barter. Trade tokens were used extensively by the famous East India Trading Company and were often in use in the early days of this country.

A Letter From Nigeria Here is a letter from a boy in Nigeria who would like a pen-friend in New Zealand: “I have had your publication from the headmaster of Christchurch. Lagos. Nigeria, sayin" that your readers would like to correspond with pupils of Nigeria and I wonder if you would try to get me one pen-friend in your colonv I am most interested in stamp collecting. The curios I like best are knives, eggs, postcards, newspapers and information which will help me in my studies.”

The boy’s name is H. A. Hamidson and his address is 30 Ladipo street Ebute Melta, Nigeria.

NOTICE S.P.C.A. at the Show Mrs G.* White of the S.P.C.A. will have a tent on the showgrounds not far from the entrance gates. She hopes to see many S.P.C.A. Junior Leaguers on Thursday or Friday.