The boy travellers in the Far East : adventures of two youths ... - Library

2S2
THE BOY TRzVVELLERS.
" The Japanese cui-renc}'," said Doctor Broiison, " has had a somewhat
checkered career. Previous to the coming of tlie foreigners, tlie currency
consisted of gold, silver, copper, and bronze coins. Tlie Dainiios had money
of their own, and some of them had issued paper kinsats, or money-cards.
OLD KINSAT, OR MONET-CARD.
:
These were on thick paper, like card-board, and
they circulated freely, thongh sometimes at a dis-
count, owing to the ditiicult}- of redemption or tlie
wasteful ways of the prince by whom they were
put forth. The old coins were oval or oblong,
and the lower denominations had a square hole in
the centre, so that they could be strnng on a wire
or on a cord. The gold coins were known as
' kobans,' while the silver ones had the general
name of 'boos.' There were fractions of each,
and they had their names, just as our half and
quarter dollars have their distinctive names. The
unit of the silver coin was a 'boo,' and it was al-
ways called ' ichi-boo,' or one boo. The word ichi
means one, but the early visitors supposed it was a
part of the name of tlie coin. Thus we read in
books of twenty years ago that the writer paid
'one ichiboo' or 'two ichiboos' for certain pur-
chases. It is the same as if some one writing of
America should say that he paid 'one one-dollar'
or ' two one-dollars ' for what he had bought.
" All that old currency has been set aside," continued the Doctor,
"and the country is now in jjossession of a decimal system of money.
The coins are round, and the general stamp on them is the same, apart
from the words and figures showing the denomination and value. The
unit is the 'yen,' which is equal to our dollar. In fact, the Japanese cur-
rency is assimilated to our own in weight, fineness, and decimal divisions.
Here is the table of the values
10 rill make 1 sen, equal to 1 cent.
100 fen make 1 yen, equal to 1 dollar.
" The coins are stamped with the devices of the coil-
ed dragons and the rising sun (both Japanese symbols),
and not with the portrait of tlie Mikado. Japanese
prejudice is opposed to the adoption of the picture of
the imperial ruler on tlie coin of the country, but it will ichi-boo.