The year 1940 marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the death of Henry Alexander Ramsden, who departed this life on the 27th day of January 1915 in Yokohama, Japan, at the early age of forty-three years. At the time of his death, he was without doubt the foremost writer and most competent occidental authority in his chosen field, that of Far Eastern numismatics.
He was the author of numerous studies, and had published several books and many magazine articles on Far Eastern numismatics in Europe, Asia, and America. During this life he was the prime mover in the study of the coins of his specialty, and was most probably the direct cause of the popularity which the coins of the orient enjoyed in the United States during the last years of his life. With his death, and the death of several of his correspondents, among whom were John Robinson of Salem, Massachusetts, John Reilly Jr. and Howland Wood of New York, the collecting of the coins of the orient for anything but their curious shapes seems to have become more and more moribund and unpopular.
Not the least of his activities was as editor and publisher of the Yokohama Ko Sen Kai during the last few years of its existence prior to December 1912, and its successor, the Numismatic and Philatelic Journal of Japan, from January 1913 to December 1914. In 1909 he also published six issues of a periodical called The Numismatic Monthly, but whose Japanese title, Gai Koku Kosen Geppo, would more accurately be translated Foreign Money Monthly Magazine. The first and last mentioned were entirely in Japanese, while the more pretentious Numismatic & Philatelic Journal was bilingual, in English and Japanese. The Numismatic Monthly seems to have been a test balloon to sound out the popularity of foreign coins among Japanese collectors, but as it was discontinued after six issues, it would appear to have met with no great popular response among the Japanese.
The journal of the Yokohama Numismatic Society appears to have first started as an annual about 1896, in which form it continued until 1909, when it became a monthly and continued as such until it was merged into the Numismatic and Philatelic Journal of Japan. During its later years its title appeared in English and the advertisements of the firm of coin dealers with which Ramsden was connected, Jun Kobayagawa Company of Yokohama, appeared regularly in its pages. The style of the publication was also changed, being provided with a more substantial cover and improved illustrations in colors and in collotype. As some of these superior plates reappear in the Numismatic and Philatelic Journal and in Ramsden's booklets in later years, it may be presumed that he was the instigator of these improvements. The file of the last few years of the Yokohama Ko Sen Kai is perhaps the most outstanding example of the typically Japanese numismatic society organ. The illustrations are principally uchigata ink rubbings taken from actual coins in the collections of the members and authenticated by the attractive red seals of their owners, supported by a printed text in Chinese and native characters. A handsome collection could be made of these seal impressions alone, which would have a decidedly numismatic flavor as they are frequently in the form of ancient odd-shaped coins or the more modern round or oval pierced coins of the Orient. Sets of such periodicals are extremely difficult to obtain as they were published only in sufficient numbers for distribution to the members of the particular organization which issued them, no general subscription list being provided for.
Aside from Ramsden's editorial and publishing career, if there ever was a numismatamaniac it was he. His unpublished letters to John Robinson, which are deposited in the library of the Essex Institute in Salem, Massachusetts, attest to his entire absorption in his studies in oriental numismatics. He made frequent journeys to the principal cities and the interior of China in the pursuit of new numismatic items for his own collection, which at his death numbered over 15,000 patterns and is now in the cabinet of the American Numismatic Society of New York, or for the stock-in-trade of his company. No price was too dear for really rare coins, and Chinese collectors who previously had had this field to themselves, felt the competition from one whom they must have felt was a rank outsider and "fan kwei." Through his hands passed many outstanding collections formed by numismatic connoisseurs of both China and Japan, and it can hardly be doubted but that the finest of their specimens remained in Ramsden's own collection and that the pieces with slight defects or inferior patina passed on to waiting buyers.
He was familiar with the greatest Chinese and Japanese archaeological and numismatic experts, among whom were Lo Chen-yu and Gakuyo Katsuyama, and Neil Gordon Munro, the author of the authoritative Coins of Japan. A man of decided opinions and convictions, he had reason to doubt many of the published statements by Lacouperie in his Catalogue of Chinese coins from the 7th Century BC to AD 621. In consequence, one of his principal reasons for visiting Europe in 1912 was to personally examine the collection of ancient Chinese coins in the British Museum in London, upon which that work was based, in order to form a first-hand opinion regarding them. These dissenting opinions may be found in many of his letters to other collectors. While in Europe he visited the principal museums in London, Paris, Rome, St. Petersburg and Berlin, paying particular attention to their far eastern numismatic sections. After returning to Japan he commented on the meagerness and inadequacy of the collections he had viewed as compared to others with which he was familiar in the orient, and particularly with his own great collection. While in Rome in 1912 he read a paper before the 3rd International Archaeological Congress on the subject of cowries and their substitutes used as money in ancient China, which has never been published.
The following bibliography comprises the principal publications by Ramsden on Far Eastern numismatics. The inclusion of his articles on philately and unsigned articles and editorials would greatly increase the listing.
BOOKS
(1904) A List of Tokens and Paper Notes Issued For Use of Sugar Estates in the Island of Cuba. Barcelona. 36 pages (50 copies printed)
(1906) Kwen Ei Tsu Ho Coins. Barcelona. 13 pages illustrated. (25 copies printed)
(1910) Corean Coin Charms and Amulets. Yokohama. 40 pages plus plates.
(1910-1911) Modern Chinese Copper Coins. Reprint of a series of articles originally published in The Numismatist.
(1911) Siam Porcelain and Other Tokens. Yokohama. 37 pages plus plates (including one in color)
(1911) Chinese Openwork Amulet Coins. Yokohama. 60 pages plus plates.
(1911) Chinese Paper Money. Manuals of Far Eastern Numismatics #1. Yokohama. 37 pages plus plates.
(1912) Chinese Early Barter and Uninscribed Money. Manuals of Far Eastern Numismatics #2. Yokohama. 34 pages plus plates.
(1914) Model Insect Money of Ancient China . Specialized Series #1. Yokohama. 22 pages illustrated
MAGAZINE ARTICLES
American Journal of Numismatics
Tsi Moh Knife Coins – Small Series. V. 44 #4, October 1910 pg. 158-163
Early Chinese Metallic Currency: Carapace Money. Vol. 45 #2, April 1911, pages 70-72.
Berliner Munzblatter
Papiergeld in China. V. 32 #118, October 1911, pg. 182-184 China Review
Notes on the Currency of the Philippine Islands. V. 24 #4, January 1900, pg. 241-243; V. 24 #6, May 1900, pg. 289-290
Elder Magazine
The Knife Coins of Ancient China. V.2 #1, January 1911, pg. 7
Journal of the Tokyo Archaeological Society
Ant's Nose Money. V. 2 #10, June 1912, pg. 35-38 (in Japanese)
Mehl's Numismatic Monthly
Glass Coins of the Far East. Vol. 3 #3, March 1910, pg. 33-35
Paper Money of China . V. 4 #9-10, September-October 1911, pg. 123-124
Bamboo Money in China. V. 5 #5, May 1914, pg. 77
Copper Coinage of the Chinese Republic , V. 6 #5, May 1915, pg.65-73
Ancient Chinese Coins: Ghost Head Money. V. 7 #6- 7, June-July 1916, pg. 84-86
Note: The last two articles were published after Ramsden's death.
Numismatic Chronicle
The Ancient Coins of Lin-tzu. Series 4, V. 15, 1915, pg. 121-131.
Numismatic and Philatelic Journal of Japan
A Bank Note of Tsingtau. Vol. 3 #3, March 1914, pg. 98-99.
A Characteristic Bank Note of Modern China. Vol. 2 #6, December 1913, pg. 201-205
A Chinese Bank Note With Historical Personages. Vol. 3 #2, February 1914, pg. 41-43
A Modern Style Chinese Bank Note. Vol. 3 #6, June 1914, pg. 218-219
Ant's Nose Money. Vol. 3 #4, April 1914, pg. 139- 140; May 1914, pg. 165-166
Arrowhead Currency. Vol. 4 #4-6, Oct-December 1914, pg. 153-156
Chinese Bank Note with Reproduction of a Spanish Dollar. Vol. 1 #6, June 1913, pg. 222-223
Chinese Bank Note with the Twelve Animals of the Duodenary Cycle. Vol. 4 #1, July 1914, pg. 12-13
Chinese Coin Amulets Inscribed with "Japan". Vol. 1 #5, May 1913, pg. 161-166
Chinese Republic Paper Money. Vol. 1 #3, March 1913, pg. 99-100
Cowry Substitutes Used as Currency in Ancient China. Vol. 3 #1, January 1914, pg. 15-17
Errors in the Formation of the Ideographs "An Yang "as Found on the Early Currency of this Ancient Chinese City. Vol. 1 #3, March 1913, pg. 88-90; June 1913, pg. 212-218
Far Eastern Coins with their Value Expressed in the Legend. Vol. 1 #2, February 1913, pg. 45-47
Fookinese Modern Cast Copper Coins. Vol. 2 #4, October 1913, pg. 121-123
Military Coin Issue for the Chinese Province of Sze Chuen. V. 2 #3, September 1913, pg. 93-96
Model Insect Money of Ancient China . V. 4 #4-6, October-December 1914, pg. 121-135
Seals for Impressing on Chinese Private Bank Notes and their Significance . V. 2 #1, July 1913, pg. 15-17; August 1913, pg. 49-51; October 1913, pg. 133-135; December 1913, pg. 212-213; September 1914, pg. 94-97; October-December 1914, pg. 157-167.
The Coins of Yuen. V. 4 #1, July 1914, pg. 1-2; August 1914, pg. 57-59
The Cowrie Currency of Ancient China . V. 2 #5, November 1913, pg. 161-163
The Origin of Birds Found Protruding from the Outer Circumference of Certain Chinese Coin Amulets. Vol. 4 #2, August 1914, pg. 41-47
The Paper Money of Formosa. Vol. 1 #2, February 1913, pg. 53-55
The Tangut Script and Numismatics. Vol. 3 #4, April 1914, pg. 121-126
The Numismatist
A Chinese Historical Amulet Coin. Vol. 22 #8, August 1909, pg. 227-228
A Recent Chinese Commemorative Coin. V. 25 #9, September 1912, pg. 346
Coins of the Meiji or Present Period of Japan. V. 24 #8, August 1911, pg. 266-268
Corean Modern Copper Coins. V. 22 #4, April 1909, pg. 101-103; May 1909, pg. 136
Dollar Mark 2400 Years Old. V. 26 #8, August 1913, pg. 422-423
Foreign Money in China. V. 23 #2, February 1910, pg. 33-34
Modern Chinese Copper Coins. Vol. 23 #5-6, MayJune 1910, pg. 141-142; November 1910, pg. 241-245; December 1910, pg. 269-271; January 1911, pg. 15-19; February 1911, pg. 74-75; March 1911, pg. 86-91; April 1911, pg. 117-118; May 1911, pg. 167-169. Reprinted as a pamphlet. [This work won a numismatic book award]
New Coin Issues for Corea . V. 22 #12, December 1909, pg. 339
Pictorial Characters of Ancient Chinese Coins. V. 24 #6, June 1911, pg. 203-204
Spink's Numismatic Circular
Some Rare and Unpublished Chinese Coins. Part 1: The Coins of Tch'ui. Vol. 19 #227, October 1911, columns 13103-13106; Part 2: Kung Coins. Vol. 20 #236, July 1912, col. 13732-13737; Part 3: Nieh Coins. Vol. 21 #1, January 1913, col. 63-65; #12, December 1913, col. 911- 915.
The Origin of Chinese Cash. Vol. 23 #3-4, MarchApril 1915, col. 163-169.
Une Piece Inedite . Vol. 17 #196, March 1909, col. 11272.
UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPTS
(1912) Cowries and Their Substitutes Used as a Medium of Exchange in Ancient China . A paper read before the 3rd International Archaeological Congress, Rome, October 1912.
(1909-1914) Notes and Observations on Ancient Chinese Coins. Letters written by Ramsden to John Robinson. Originals in the library of the Essex Institute, Salem, MA. A 243 page typescript abstract was prepared in 1917 by John Robinson, the original of which is in the Essex Institute. Copies are held by the American Numismatic Society and the library of Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. [A microfilm copy of this typescript, prepared for Howard Bowker, is now in the Bruce W. Smith library]
For the information of collectors who might wish to refer to any of the above listed publications, most of them are in the library of the American Numismatic Society at 75 Varick Street,floor II], New York City. Many can also be found in the New York Public Library and the library of the Essex Institute. [Most are also] in the writer's library. He would appreciate having brought to his attention any omissions and would like to hear from any collector who might have any of Ramsden's letters on numismatic subjects which they would be willing to loan.
In the October 1940 issue of The Coin Collectors Journal a request was made for material pertaining to Mr. Ramsden. No response having been received, a more specific request for information is made herewith. It would be greatly appreciated if anyone having the following numbered, or any unnumbered circulars issued by Jun Kobayagawa Company of Yokohama, communicate with the writer: Numbers 2 through 7, 11-13, 20, 29, 30, 32, 36, 38-41, 44, 48-52, 57, 60-62, and nay issue having a higher number than 64. Any material loaned will be promptly returned and reimbursement will be made for postage charges.
(Originally published in Coin Collectors Journal May 1941.)
Supplement
The following supplement was written by Bowker in January 1967 and published as Numogram #5 by the Society for International Numismatics, apparently later that year.
Other interesting data regarding Ramsden's antecedents and personal career have been collected that perhaps generally are unknown and may be of interest.
His father, Frederick W. Ramsden, was British Consul at Santiago, Cuba, during the Spanish-American War. He exerted himself in the interests of the United States Navy crew of the U.S.S. Merrimac which had been captured by the Spanish when the attempt was made on 3 June 1898, to block off Santiago's harbor under the command of Naval Constructor Richmond Pearson Hobson. The U.S. Navy placed a bronze plate upon the wall of Ramsden's house in appreciation of his services. Doubtless this has disappeared since the seizure of power by Fidel Castro. A duplicate plate is on display at the U.S. Naval Academy.
It is not well known that Henry Alexander Ramsden, in 1898, was British Vice-Consul in Manila, and conducted a party from besieged Manila through the Filipino insurgents' lines about Manila to Malabon to rescue a group of Chinese refugees. This event is recorded in a Chinese-style volume entitled The Chinese Soldier and Other Sketches with a Description of the Capture of Manlia, by Alfred Cunningham, published in Hong Kong in 1902, in which the 7th chapter is titled The Insurrectos at Malabon.
Additional items of Ramsdeniana as follows are in the writer's collections, as follows:
4 postcards, with photos of Ramsden's shop in Yokahama, and holiday greetings;
80 advertising circulars of numismatic, philatelic, publications, medals, decorations, gambling tokens, amulets, postcards, sword guards which were for sale;
193 publications on numismatics belonging to Ramsden's library now in the Library of the American Numismatic Society, N.Y;
3 examples of small printed envelopes from the Jun Kobayagawa Co., for coins;
Several hundreds of ink-squeeze coin rubbings of East Asian coins and amulets offered for sale;
Typewritten transcript of Ramsden's unpublished address read before the IIIrd International Archaeological Society in Rome, 17 October 1912 on The Cowries and their Substitutes Used as Mediums of Exchange in Ancient China;
Notes and Observations Regarding a Collection of Large Knife Coins of the States of Tsi in Ancient China. The Fang collection of 60 pairs of ink-squeeze rubbings, 2 pages of text, 20 pages of rubbings; and 24 of Medium Size Pointed Knife Money of Ancient China. Fang Collection, 2pp text, 6 pp. ink-squeeze rubbings. Some Notes and Observations Regarding a Collection of Over 500 Coins, as Illustrated in the Accompanying Plates. The Ro (Lo) Collection, 511 specimens. 8 pages of text, 65 pages of rubbings.
Mr. Bowker also noted that his article Ramsdeniana (1941) was translated into Japanese by Mr. Eiichi Tamaya and published in one of the brochures of the Yokohama Numismatic Society.
Editor's Note: Howard Bowker noted in one of his letters to Arthur Coole that no photos of Ramsden are known to exist. Obituaries on Ramsden were published in The Numismatist October 1915 and in Spink's Numismatic Circular November-December 1915. From this and other sources, some additional information can be obtained. His father, Frederick Wollaston Ramsden (1839-1898), born in Essex, England, was a British diplomatic consular official who served in various parts of the world. He had seven children, all born in Santiago, Cuba, including Henry A. Ramsden (1872-1915; other sources say he was born in 1870).
Henry graduated from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1892, and was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity. He is listed in the U.S. Congressional Directory 1901 as vice-consul for Great Britain at Havana, Cuba. He and his mother owned sugar estates in Cuba, which explains his first published work, a catalog of Cuban sugar plantation tokens. At some point he also served as consul at Barcelona, Spain.
In Japan his brother-in-law operated the firm, Jun Kobayagawa, which sold coins, stamps, post cards and related items. This firm introduced collectors in the West to Chinese bamboo talley stick money and Siam gambling tokens. Henry, meanwhile, focused on his collecting. He had a vault built next to his bedroom so he would be near his collection. At his death, his collection, which contained 15,000 items, was sold to John Reilly Jr. for 30,000 yen (about US $15,000). The collection included: 90 hollow handle spade coins; 272 heavy spades (including a few 3 hole spades); 535 pointed foot spades; 928 square foot spades; 226 Ch'i type knife coins (including 63 with more than three characters); 668 ming knives; 172 talley sticks; and over 1200 Siam tokens. The collection later passed to the American Numismatic Society when John Reilly donated his collection and the Ramsden collection. [BWS]
He was the author of numerous studies, and had published several books and many magazine articles on Far Eastern numismatics in Europe, Asia, and America. During this life he was the prime mover in the study of the coins of his specialty, and was most probably the direct cause of the popularity which the coins of the orient enjoyed in the United States during the last years of his life. With his death, and the death of several of his correspondents, among whom were John Robinson of Salem, Massachusetts, John Reilly Jr. and Howland Wood of New York, the collecting of the coins of the orient for anything but their curious shapes seems to have become more and more moribund and unpopular.
Not the least of his activities was as editor and publisher of the Yokohama Ko Sen Kai during the last few years of its existence prior to December 1912, and its successor, the Numismatic and Philatelic Journal of Japan, from January 1913 to December 1914. In 1909 he also published six issues of a periodical called The Numismatic Monthly, but whose Japanese title, Gai Koku Kosen Geppo, would more accurately be translated Foreign Money Monthly Magazine. The first and last mentioned were entirely in Japanese, while the more pretentious Numismatic & Philatelic Journal was bilingual, in English and Japanese. The Numismatic Monthly seems to have been a test balloon to sound out the popularity of foreign coins among Japanese collectors, but as it was discontinued after six issues, it would appear to have met with no great popular response among the Japanese.
The journal of the Yokohama Numismatic Society appears to have first started as an annual about 1896, in which form it continued until 1909, when it became a monthly and continued as such until it was merged into the Numismatic and Philatelic Journal of Japan. During its later years its title appeared in English and the advertisements of the firm of coin dealers with which Ramsden was connected, Jun Kobayagawa Company of Yokohama, appeared regularly in its pages. The style of the publication was also changed, being provided with a more substantial cover and improved illustrations in colors and in collotype. As some of these superior plates reappear in the Numismatic and Philatelic Journal and in Ramsden's booklets in later years, it may be presumed that he was the instigator of these improvements. The file of the last few years of the Yokohama Ko Sen Kai is perhaps the most outstanding example of the typically Japanese numismatic society organ. The illustrations are principally uchigata ink rubbings taken from actual coins in the collections of the members and authenticated by the attractive red seals of their owners, supported by a printed text in Chinese and native characters. A handsome collection could be made of these seal impressions alone, which would have a decidedly numismatic flavor as they are frequently in the form of ancient odd-shaped coins or the more modern round or oval pierced coins of the Orient. Sets of such periodicals are extremely difficult to obtain as they were published only in sufficient numbers for distribution to the members of the particular organization which issued them, no general subscription list being provided for.
Aside from Ramsden's editorial and publishing career, if there ever was a numismatamaniac it was he. His unpublished letters to John Robinson, which are deposited in the library of the Essex Institute in Salem, Massachusetts, attest to his entire absorption in his studies in oriental numismatics. He made frequent journeys to the principal cities and the interior of China in the pursuit of new numismatic items for his own collection, which at his death numbered over 15,000 patterns and is now in the cabinet of the American Numismatic Society of New York, or for the stock-in-trade of his company. No price was too dear for really rare coins, and Chinese collectors who previously had had this field to themselves, felt the competition from one whom they must have felt was a rank outsider and "fan kwei." Through his hands passed many outstanding collections formed by numismatic connoisseurs of both China and Japan, and it can hardly be doubted but that the finest of their specimens remained in Ramsden's own collection and that the pieces with slight defects or inferior patina passed on to waiting buyers.
He was familiar with the greatest Chinese and Japanese archaeological and numismatic experts, among whom were Lo Chen-yu and Gakuyo Katsuyama, and Neil Gordon Munro, the author of the authoritative Coins of Japan. A man of decided opinions and convictions, he had reason to doubt many of the published statements by Lacouperie in his Catalogue of Chinese coins from the 7th Century BC to AD 621. In consequence, one of his principal reasons for visiting Europe in 1912 was to personally examine the collection of ancient Chinese coins in the British Museum in London, upon which that work was based, in order to form a first-hand opinion regarding them. These dissenting opinions may be found in many of his letters to other collectors. While in Europe he visited the principal museums in London, Paris, Rome, St. Petersburg and Berlin, paying particular attention to their far eastern numismatic sections. After returning to Japan he commented on the meagerness and inadequacy of the collections he had viewed as compared to others with which he was familiar in the orient, and particularly with his own great collection. While in Rome in 1912 he read a paper before the 3rd International Archaeological Congress on the subject of cowries and their substitutes used as money in ancient China, which has never been published.
The following bibliography comprises the principal publications by Ramsden on Far Eastern numismatics. The inclusion of his articles on philately and unsigned articles and editorials would greatly increase the listing.
BOOKS
(1904) A List of Tokens and Paper Notes Issued For Use of Sugar Estates in the Island of Cuba. Barcelona. 36 pages (50 copies printed)
(1906) Kwen Ei Tsu Ho Coins. Barcelona. 13 pages illustrated. (25 copies printed)
(1910) Corean Coin Charms and Amulets. Yokohama. 40 pages plus plates.
(1910-1911) Modern Chinese Copper Coins. Reprint of a series of articles originally published in The Numismatist.
(1911) Siam Porcelain and Other Tokens. Yokohama. 37 pages plus plates (including one in color)
(1911) Chinese Openwork Amulet Coins. Yokohama. 60 pages plus plates.
(1911) Chinese Paper Money. Manuals of Far Eastern Numismatics #1. Yokohama. 37 pages plus plates.
(1912) Chinese Early Barter and Uninscribed Money. Manuals of Far Eastern Numismatics #2. Yokohama. 34 pages plus plates.
(1914) Model Insect Money of Ancient China . Specialized Series #1. Yokohama. 22 pages illustrated
MAGAZINE ARTICLES
American Journal of Numismatics
Tsi Moh Knife Coins – Small Series. V. 44 #4, October 1910 pg. 158-163
Early Chinese Metallic Currency: Carapace Money. Vol. 45 #2, April 1911, pages 70-72.
Berliner Munzblatter
Papiergeld in China. V. 32 #118, October 1911, pg. 182-184 China Review
Notes on the Currency of the Philippine Islands. V. 24 #4, January 1900, pg. 241-243; V. 24 #6, May 1900, pg. 289-290
Elder Magazine
The Knife Coins of Ancient China. V.2 #1, January 1911, pg. 7
Journal of the Tokyo Archaeological Society
Ant's Nose Money. V. 2 #10, June 1912, pg. 35-38 (in Japanese)
Mehl's Numismatic Monthly
Glass Coins of the Far East. Vol. 3 #3, March 1910, pg. 33-35
Paper Money of China . V. 4 #9-10, September-October 1911, pg. 123-124
Bamboo Money in China. V. 5 #5, May 1914, pg. 77
Copper Coinage of the Chinese Republic , V. 6 #5, May 1915, pg.65-73
Ancient Chinese Coins: Ghost Head Money. V. 7 #6- 7, June-July 1916, pg. 84-86
Note: The last two articles were published after Ramsden's death.
Numismatic Chronicle
The Ancient Coins of Lin-tzu. Series 4, V. 15, 1915, pg. 121-131.
Numismatic and Philatelic Journal of Japan
A Bank Note of Tsingtau. Vol. 3 #3, March 1914, pg. 98-99.
A Characteristic Bank Note of Modern China. Vol. 2 #6, December 1913, pg. 201-205
A Chinese Bank Note With Historical Personages. Vol. 3 #2, February 1914, pg. 41-43
A Modern Style Chinese Bank Note. Vol. 3 #6, June 1914, pg. 218-219
Ant's Nose Money. Vol. 3 #4, April 1914, pg. 139- 140; May 1914, pg. 165-166
Arrowhead Currency. Vol. 4 #4-6, Oct-December 1914, pg. 153-156
Chinese Bank Note with Reproduction of a Spanish Dollar. Vol. 1 #6, June 1913, pg. 222-223
Chinese Bank Note with the Twelve Animals of the Duodenary Cycle. Vol. 4 #1, July 1914, pg. 12-13
Chinese Coin Amulets Inscribed with "Japan". Vol. 1 #5, May 1913, pg. 161-166
Chinese Republic Paper Money. Vol. 1 #3, March 1913, pg. 99-100
Cowry Substitutes Used as Currency in Ancient China. Vol. 3 #1, January 1914, pg. 15-17
Errors in the Formation of the Ideographs "An Yang "as Found on the Early Currency of this Ancient Chinese City. Vol. 1 #3, March 1913, pg. 88-90; June 1913, pg. 212-218
Far Eastern Coins with their Value Expressed in the Legend. Vol. 1 #2, February 1913, pg. 45-47
Fookinese Modern Cast Copper Coins. Vol. 2 #4, October 1913, pg. 121-123
Military Coin Issue for the Chinese Province of Sze Chuen. V. 2 #3, September 1913, pg. 93-96
Model Insect Money of Ancient China . V. 4 #4-6, October-December 1914, pg. 121-135
Seals for Impressing on Chinese Private Bank Notes and their Significance . V. 2 #1, July 1913, pg. 15-17; August 1913, pg. 49-51; October 1913, pg. 133-135; December 1913, pg. 212-213; September 1914, pg. 94-97; October-December 1914, pg. 157-167.
The Coins of Yuen. V. 4 #1, July 1914, pg. 1-2; August 1914, pg. 57-59
The Cowrie Currency of Ancient China . V. 2 #5, November 1913, pg. 161-163
The Origin of Birds Found Protruding from the Outer Circumference of Certain Chinese Coin Amulets. Vol. 4 #2, August 1914, pg. 41-47
The Paper Money of Formosa. Vol. 1 #2, February 1913, pg. 53-55
The Tangut Script and Numismatics. Vol. 3 #4, April 1914, pg. 121-126
The Numismatist
A Chinese Historical Amulet Coin. Vol. 22 #8, August 1909, pg. 227-228
A Recent Chinese Commemorative Coin. V. 25 #9, September 1912, pg. 346
Coins of the Meiji or Present Period of Japan. V. 24 #8, August 1911, pg. 266-268
Corean Modern Copper Coins. V. 22 #4, April 1909, pg. 101-103; May 1909, pg. 136
Dollar Mark 2400 Years Old. V. 26 #8, August 1913, pg. 422-423
Foreign Money in China. V. 23 #2, February 1910, pg. 33-34
Modern Chinese Copper Coins. Vol. 23 #5-6, MayJune 1910, pg. 141-142; November 1910, pg. 241-245; December 1910, pg. 269-271; January 1911, pg. 15-19; February 1911, pg. 74-75; March 1911, pg. 86-91; April 1911, pg. 117-118; May 1911, pg. 167-169. Reprinted as a pamphlet. [This work won a numismatic book award]
New Coin Issues for Corea . V. 22 #12, December 1909, pg. 339
Pictorial Characters of Ancient Chinese Coins. V. 24 #6, June 1911, pg. 203-204
Spink's Numismatic Circular
Some Rare and Unpublished Chinese Coins. Part 1: The Coins of Tch'ui. Vol. 19 #227, October 1911, columns 13103-13106; Part 2: Kung Coins. Vol. 20 #236, July 1912, col. 13732-13737; Part 3: Nieh Coins. Vol. 21 #1, January 1913, col. 63-65; #12, December 1913, col. 911- 915.
The Origin of Chinese Cash. Vol. 23 #3-4, MarchApril 1915, col. 163-169.
Une Piece Inedite . Vol. 17 #196, March 1909, col. 11272.
UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPTS
(1912) Cowries and Their Substitutes Used as a Medium of Exchange in Ancient China . A paper read before the 3rd International Archaeological Congress, Rome, October 1912.
(1909-1914) Notes and Observations on Ancient Chinese Coins. Letters written by Ramsden to John Robinson. Originals in the library of the Essex Institute, Salem, MA. A 243 page typescript abstract was prepared in 1917 by John Robinson, the original of which is in the Essex Institute. Copies are held by the American Numismatic Society and the library of Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. [A microfilm copy of this typescript, prepared for Howard Bowker, is now in the Bruce W. Smith library]
For the information of collectors who might wish to refer to any of the above listed publications, most of them are in the library of the American Numismatic Society at 75 Varick Street,floor II], New York City. Many can also be found in the New York Public Library and the library of the Essex Institute. [Most are also] in the writer's library. He would appreciate having brought to his attention any omissions and would like to hear from any collector who might have any of Ramsden's letters on numismatic subjects which they would be willing to loan.
In the October 1940 issue of The Coin Collectors Journal a request was made for material pertaining to Mr. Ramsden. No response having been received, a more specific request for information is made herewith. It would be greatly appreciated if anyone having the following numbered, or any unnumbered circulars issued by Jun Kobayagawa Company of Yokohama, communicate with the writer: Numbers 2 through 7, 11-13, 20, 29, 30, 32, 36, 38-41, 44, 48-52, 57, 60-62, and nay issue having a higher number than 64. Any material loaned will be promptly returned and reimbursement will be made for postage charges.
(Originally published in Coin Collectors Journal May 1941.)
Supplement
The following supplement was written by Bowker in January 1967 and published as Numogram #5 by the Society for International Numismatics, apparently later that year.
Other interesting data regarding Ramsden's antecedents and personal career have been collected that perhaps generally are unknown and may be of interest.
His father, Frederick W. Ramsden, was British Consul at Santiago, Cuba, during the Spanish-American War. He exerted himself in the interests of the United States Navy crew of the U.S.S. Merrimac which had been captured by the Spanish when the attempt was made on 3 June 1898, to block off Santiago's harbor under the command of Naval Constructor Richmond Pearson Hobson. The U.S. Navy placed a bronze plate upon the wall of Ramsden's house in appreciation of his services. Doubtless this has disappeared since the seizure of power by Fidel Castro. A duplicate plate is on display at the U.S. Naval Academy.
It is not well known that Henry Alexander Ramsden, in 1898, was British Vice-Consul in Manila, and conducted a party from besieged Manila through the Filipino insurgents' lines about Manila to Malabon to rescue a group of Chinese refugees. This event is recorded in a Chinese-style volume entitled The Chinese Soldier and Other Sketches with a Description of the Capture of Manlia, by Alfred Cunningham, published in Hong Kong in 1902, in which the 7th chapter is titled The Insurrectos at Malabon.
Additional items of Ramsdeniana as follows are in the writer's collections, as follows:
4 postcards, with photos of Ramsden's shop in Yokahama, and holiday greetings;
80 advertising circulars of numismatic, philatelic, publications, medals, decorations, gambling tokens, amulets, postcards, sword guards which were for sale;
193 publications on numismatics belonging to Ramsden's library now in the Library of the American Numismatic Society, N.Y;
3 examples of small printed envelopes from the Jun Kobayagawa Co., for coins;
Several hundreds of ink-squeeze coin rubbings of East Asian coins and amulets offered for sale;
Typewritten transcript of Ramsden's unpublished address read before the IIIrd International Archaeological Society in Rome, 17 October 1912 on The Cowries and their Substitutes Used as Mediums of Exchange in Ancient China;
Notes and Observations Regarding a Collection of Large Knife Coins of the States of Tsi in Ancient China. The Fang collection of 60 pairs of ink-squeeze rubbings, 2 pages of text, 20 pages of rubbings; and 24 of Medium Size Pointed Knife Money of Ancient China. Fang Collection, 2pp text, 6 pp. ink-squeeze rubbings. Some Notes and Observations Regarding a Collection of Over 500 Coins, as Illustrated in the Accompanying Plates. The Ro (Lo) Collection, 511 specimens. 8 pages of text, 65 pages of rubbings.
Mr. Bowker also noted that his article Ramsdeniana (1941) was translated into Japanese by Mr. Eiichi Tamaya and published in one of the brochures of the Yokohama Numismatic Society.
Editor's Note: Howard Bowker noted in one of his letters to Arthur Coole that no photos of Ramsden are known to exist. Obituaries on Ramsden were published in The Numismatist October 1915 and in Spink's Numismatic Circular November-December 1915. From this and other sources, some additional information can be obtained. His father, Frederick Wollaston Ramsden (1839-1898), born in Essex, England, was a British diplomatic consular official who served in various parts of the world. He had seven children, all born in Santiago, Cuba, including Henry A. Ramsden (1872-1915; other sources say he was born in 1870).
Henry graduated from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1892, and was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity. He is listed in the U.S. Congressional Directory 1901 as vice-consul for Great Britain at Havana, Cuba. He and his mother owned sugar estates in Cuba, which explains his first published work, a catalog of Cuban sugar plantation tokens. At some point he also served as consul at Barcelona, Spain.
In Japan his brother-in-law operated the firm, Jun Kobayagawa, which sold coins, stamps, post cards and related items. This firm introduced collectors in the West to Chinese bamboo talley stick money and Siam gambling tokens. Henry, meanwhile, focused on his collecting. He had a vault built next to his bedroom so he would be near his collection. At his death, his collection, which contained 15,000 items, was sold to John Reilly Jr. for 30,000 yen (about US $15,000). The collection included: 90 hollow handle spade coins; 272 heavy spades (including a few 3 hole spades); 535 pointed foot spades; 928 square foot spades; 226 Ch'i type knife coins (including 63 with more than three characters); 668 ming knives; 172 talley sticks; and over 1200 Siam tokens. The collection later passed to the American Numismatic Society when John Reilly donated his collection and the Ramsden collection. [BWS]