Old money
Comments: 9
Once a month antique and old junk dealers set up stalls on the sidewalk next to the building where I work. Today was one of their days. I bought some old money (for the graphics and engraving: I’m no numismatist). It was cheap! I figured I paid less than the face value of the notes considering inflation since their date of issue.
The fellow above is Itagaki Taisuke, a statesman who took part in the Meiji Restoration. He appears on the old ¥100 note.
Click the image above for a larger view in a new window (187 KB JPEG).
Japanese notes are beautifully engraved, a tradition that continues to this day. You really have to see them up close to appreciate it. If you’d like to see a very large version of this note (1740 × 866 pixels), there’s one here (722 KB JPEG, but worth every yen).
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Posted to General Rants • 2005.03.09 (Wed) • 23:26
Comments
Posted by Ian 2005.03.10, 01:03
The scrollys and etching looks so dog-gone American it’s chilling. I would imagine that it’d be more floral-based. This was pre WWII, right?
Posted by Deadprogrammer 2005.03.10, 01:35
Your post reminded me of the old psychological warfare trick that a Chinese engraver played on the Japanese about which I wrote some time ago. I thought you’d be interested in that.
Posted by jh 2005.03.10, 01:46
Ian — No: the 100 yen note dates from after the war (I think). However, pre-war bills exist in a similar style. This 10 yen note from 1915 for example, or, further back, this 1 yen note from 1889.
Deadprogrammer — Brilliant!
Posted by Ken 2005.03.10, 01:49
Jeremy, I share your interest in money, also not in that way. You may wish to check out The Art of Money by David Standish from Chronicle Books. It is a few years old now, but the photographs of paper currency alone are well worth the $20 USD. That is, of course, if you can get your hands on a copy.
Posted by Durf 2005.03.10, 15:40
Itagaki had the rocking beard going. Beautiful.
I was in Okinawa for the G8 Summit in 2000 when they first came out with the 2000-yen bill. It was crammed full of fine lines and other features meant to prevent counterfeiting; some guys from Seiko Epson that were there working with us took a look at it and said “yeah, some of our new high-end printers can do these.”
Posted by triticale 2005.03.13, 11:25
Lileks has quite a collection of money and other engraving art at www.lileks.com/money/index.html
Posted by Stephen 2005.03.13, 19:29
The engraving on the the new 1,000 and 5,000 yen notes is not as good as the previous versions: very flat, like it was lit with a camera-top flash. Their ace engraver must have retired.
Posted by Ken 2005.03.16, 05:10
holy crap! check the hige on that old dude! if he was younger and buff and had spiky hair as well, he could’ve came straight out of tekken or 90% of the anime produced now.
wonder if he was a stud in his younger days…
Posted by Hiro Miyachi 2005.03.19, 15:25
The 100 yen note brings me back to my childhood. When I was a kid, Mother gave me 100 yen, I remember, only on special occasions like “shogatsu” (new year’s day) or my birthday. Given 100 yen, I felt as if I became a millionaire, and I didn’t spend it immediately, but saved it to enjoy that feeling.
Looking at the note with a new eye now that I’m an adult, I am so impressed with its intricate design. Maybe I was charmed not only by its value but also by its beautiful design in my early days.
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