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Plate 19.1 Ming dynasty
paper money Da Ming
tongxing baochao 大明通
行寶鈔 for one string,
front and back, issued in
1375. Ink on paper, height
34.1cm, width 22.2cm.
British Museum, London,
donated by Miss E.G.
Hingley, 1942,0805.1

in the Museum collection were acquired in 1913 (from H.A. of a certain Mr Grimley, who was also responsible for the
Ramsden), in 1942 (donated by E.G. Hingley) and in 2009 philatelic collection. Each Ming note was placed between
six notes were donated by the ifs School of Finance two sheets of glass, with the edges sealed. Of the five notes,
(previously known as the Chartered Institute of Bankers, three are still housed in this way and two were removed from
whose paper money collection had been on loan to the the glass so that they could be examined as part of this
Museum since 1987). Another note was transferred from the project. The provenance of these notes has yet to be
Museum’s handling collection in the 21st century. determined.
Henry Alexander Ramsden (1872–1915) was a well-known At the moment, it is not known how Ramsden, Hingley
collector of East Asian money. Based for some time in Japan, and Catling acquired their Ming notes. However, there is
he was the President of the Yokohama Numismatic Society some anecdotal evidence suggesting that Ming notes were
and General and Foreign Manager of Jun Kobayagawa Co. found inside Buddhist statues in Beijing during the Boxer
(Jun Kobayagawa being his brother-in-law). Much of his Rebellion of 1900–1; inside a Buddha statue in the collection
collection was purchased by John Reilly Jr (1883–1935), of Sophus Black (1882–1960), a Dane who was working and
whose papers, including details of Ramsden’s collection, are living in China from 1902–31; and buried inside the Beijing
in the archives of the American Numismatic Society in New city wall in the 1930s. All of these claims need to be
York. A handwritten note records that this Ming note was researched and validated. There are Ming notes in other
‘found inside a Buddha of the Ming period’. Almost nothing collections around the world, and it is possible that they
is known about Emily Georgina Hingley. The British came from the same or similar sources. It would also be
Museum database records that she donated Chinese useful to know more about Ming notes in Chinese
antiquities to the Museum in 1942 and died in 1948. 5 collections. However, for the time being, this data is not
The notes from the ifs School of Finance were once part readily available, and it is impossible to estimate the total
of the Avonmore collection, belonging to Frederick Ernest number of Ming notes that have survived.
Catling (d. 1947), of Avonmore Road, West Kensington,
London. Catling was an engraver and collector of paper Ming notes as part of China’s monetary history and Ming
money, and his collection, known as the Avonmore dynasty material culture
collection, was assembled over 50 years (then stolen in the
1930s and recovered following an advertisement in a Helen Wang
newspaper). He sold his collection to the Institute of Bankers To the curator’s naked eye, the Ming notes in the British
in 1946. The Institute of Bankers became the Chartered Museum and British Library collections all look fairly
Institute of Bankers in 1987 and the ifs School of Finance in similar (Pl. 19.1). They are large, grey notes, printed in
2006. The collection of paper money was given to the British black on both sides, and with three red seal impressions
Museum in 2009. stamped on the notes. They are all of the same
The Ming notes in the Museum’s library were housed denomination for one string (guan貫) of coins, and are all
within the Department of Printed Books, under the charge dated to the Hongwu reign (1368–1398). Ming notes were

Paper Money of the Ming Dynasty: Examining the Material Evidence | 171