Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/295

 1392, there was an issue of "linen money," which went under the name "Dirty Linen " ; not a nice name for such a nice thing as money. It was in the latter days of that dynasty that a regular issue of "cash" was made, similar to the cash used to-day. A silver coin in the shape of a bottle was also put out, but it was soon debased by admixture of copper, zinc and other baser metals, and so fell into disrepute. During the long years of Mongol supremacy the currency of that empire circulated freely in Korea, but all this came to an end about the middle of the fourteenth century.

After the founding of the present dynasty in 1392 the old silver, copper and linen money was continued in circulation, but after a time the government issued the famous yupjun, or " Leaf Money," which has held its own in the country districts until the present day with an obstinacy that is worthy of a better cause. During the past fifty years all sorts of tricks have been played with Korean coinage, and the government has realised heavy sums by minting, but of course no government can make money by coining it. The intrinsic value and the cost of making should equal the face value; but they cared nothing for this, and time and again new issues were forced on the people, only to fall to twenty per cent of their face value. The provinces would have none of this, but it circulated in and near Seoul. A rather pretty silver coin was issued in the eighties. It had a blue enamel centre. It was all bought up and hoarded within two years. The same happened to another silver coinage of a later date. At last the government unfortunately took up the nickel five-cent piece. The trouble with this coin was that it was of low enough denomination to be useful as circulating medium, but at the same time of enough value to be worth while counterfeiting. The cash had been so infinitesimal in value, and the plant necessarily so large for making it, that no one could afford to counterfeit it. But as soon as the nickel took the field an army of counterfeiters sprang up. The Japanese supplied the necessary machinery and smuggled it into