Korean numismatic charm

Korean numismatic charms (Korean: 열쇠패, literally "odd coins"), also known as Korean amulets, Korean talismans, or simply Korean charms, refer to a family of cash coin-like and other numismatic inspired types of charms that like the Japanese and Vietnamese variants are derived from Chinese numismatic charms (also referred to as Yansheng coins or huāqián), but have evolved around the customs of the Korean culture although most of these charms resemble Korean cash coins and the amulet coins of China, they contain their own categories unique to Korea.^[1] There are approximately 500 different known variants of Korean numismatic charms.^[2]

During the Joseon dynasty only the Yangban class could afford money. A common Korean family would often only have one or two amulets "to protect" their family but wasn't capable to afford a large quantity of them. The Yangban however could afford to buy Korean amulets and charms and they frequently decorated the homes of the wealthy aristocracy. As the Japanese started taking over Korea in the beginning of the twentieth century many Korean families started selling whatever they could to get by, and when there was a global copper shortage in 1907 millions of Korean numismatic charms and Korean mun cash coins were sold for only their intrinsic value in copper. After Korea became a Japanese colony the Japanese started collecting all the copper they could find for the war effort which is why Korean numismatic charms became less common.^[3]

In some instances regular Sangpyeong Tongbo (Hanja: 常平通寶) cash coins were turned into amulets by making their outer shapes from round to octagonal as a reference to the eight trigrams, while seven holes representing the seven stars from Korean folk art were drilled into them.^[4]

Korean bird-worm seal script coin

During the Japanese colonisation of Korea from around the 1920s an usual Korean amulet appeared that bore an inscription written in bird-worm seal script that reads "水得女汝, 月於日明" if read clockwise, however multiple hypotheses have been proposed as to what the actual reading order is, the amulet attempts to teach its readers how to read Chinese characters by using simple formulas like "氵+ 女 = 汝" and "月 + 日 = 明". Some Chinese and Japanese sources claim that this charm may have a hidden meaning and that the last four characters actually read "勿於日易" (McCune–Reischauer: Mul O Il I; Revised Romanisation: Mul Eo Il I) which would make it "勿 + 日 = 易" which could have a hidden meaning like "do not do business with Japan" which explains why it’s written in such a rare and unusual script as opposed to the more common regular script which was the preferred script of Korea for centuries.^[5][6][7] Its reverse inscription reads "寸得冠守絲負工紅" (McCune–Reischauer: Ch'on Tuk Kwan Su Sa Pu Kong Hong; Revised Romanisation: Chon Deuk Gwan Su Sa Bu Gong Hong)

Korean numismatic chatelaines

A Korean numismatic chatelaine on display at the Museum of Ethnography, Sweden.

Korean numismatic chatelaines are a type of Korean numismatic charm that are characterised by the fact that they resemble a chatelaine often with other Korean coin charms and amulets strung to it, and are usually fully embellished with tassels, ribbons and Korean Sangpyeong Tongbo mun coins. A frequent design of these chatelaines is to have the Hanja character "壽" (longevity), other common decorations on Korean numismatic chatelaines include images of Children, five bats symbolising the five blessings, haetae, and birds.^[8] By the nineteenth century it had became customary for the wealthy families of Korea to tie amulets to much larger pieces similar to what in the western world is called a chatelaine. These Korean "chatelaines" were presented to brides on the day of her wedding. After the wedding was over they were kept hanging in the Women's quarters of the residence. In some cases hundreds of charms were tied together these "chatelaines", which is why they are often cast as open-work charms, others have lots of rings, while others will have a lot of holes for stringing drilled or cast in them. It was also not uncommon for Korean families to tie these numismatic charms together without the "chatelaine". As the ribbons of these Korean numismatic chatelaines are brittle and break easily it is not uncommon for modern coin and exonumia dealers to remove all amulets and talismans and sell them separately which is why these objects have become even rarer in the modern era.^[9]

Other categories of Korean numismatic charms

• Open-work charm

References

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Korean numismatic charms.

• Wybrand op den Velde and David Hartill (12 November 2013) Cast Korean Coins and Charms. New Generation Publishing. ISBN 978-0755215942.