Korean numismatic charm

In the case of these coins, "charm" in this context is a catchall term for coin-shaped items which were not official (or counterfeit) money.[6] However, these numismatic objects were not all necessarily considered "magical" or "lucky", as some of these Chinese numismatic charms can be used as "mnemonic coins".[6]

During the Japanese colonisation of Korea from around the 1920s a 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 is 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.[7][8][9] 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)

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.[10] By the nineteenth century it had become 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 many 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.[11]

A design of Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese marriage amulets display a pair of fish on one side and the inscription Eo ssang (魚双, "Pair of Fish") on the other side.[12][13] In various Oriental cultures fish are associated with plenty and abundance.[14] Fish are furthermore noted for their prolific ability to reproduce and that when they swim that this was in joy and are therefore associated with a happy and harmonious marriage.[14] In Feng Shui, a pair of fish are associated with conjugal bliss and the joys of being in a matrimonial union.[14]

A common design for Korean marriage charms displays scenes of a heterosexual couple engaging in different positions of sexual intercourse.[15]

"Song of Unending Sorrow" charms, or "Song of Unending Regret" charms, are a common type of marriage coin charm, that might be Chinese, Japanese, Korean Taiwanese, or Vietnamese in origin, that depict part of the 9th century poem Chang hen ge written by Bai Juyi.[16] "Song of Unending Sorrow" charms display four heterosexual couples having sex in various positions (or they are supposed to represent one couple having in four different positions) in the area surrounding the square centre hole of the coin.[16] Surrounding the couples having sex are the Chinese characters representing the spring (春), wind (風), peaches (桃), and plums (李), which is a reference to the first four characters of a line from the Chang hen ge poem which translates into English as "Gone were the breezy spring days when the peach and plum trees were in bloom" in reference to the death of Yang Guifei.[16]

• Open-work charm

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Korean numismatic charms.

• Korean dictionary of Talisman (霊符作大典, Yeongbujak Daeten).
• Wybrand op den Velde and David Hartill (12 November 2013) Cast Korean Coins and Charms. New Generation Publishing. ISBN 978-0755215942.