East Asian architecture on coins

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I agree that this is coin collecting at its best; the coins as portals to more knowledge and beter understanding. It is difficult to come up with more, but I did find yet another one. Through several types, Thailand has put the Phra Pathom Chedi on the reverse of its 5 satang coins. In spite of their very low denomination, these coins are somewhat difficult to find, since they no longer circulate in Thailand and dealers won't carry them because of their low catalogue quote. Since I don't have a copy, I borrowed one, date 2550 BE (2008 AD) from Wikipedia.

Peter

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Here's a coin my daughter picked up for me in Japan. It is one of a series of 47(!) pieces for each of the prefectures. This one is for Nagano prefecture. It shows Zenkoji temple (no idea why the ox was added). Zenkoji is not attached to any particular Buddhist sect, making it a popular and relaxed attraction for pilgrims of all stripes.

The temple played a role in the Olympic movement. It rang its bell for the opening ceremonies for the 1998 Nagano Games as well as for the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics. However, in 2008 it did not want to be involved in the transfer of he Olympic flame as a protest against the Chinese mass killing of Tibetan Buddhist monks.

Peter

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A banknote triggered this one: Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu. Not my coin, unfortunately.

Peter

[ghipszky]

Really beautiful.
Ginger

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Thank you, Ginger. This is one of my favourite threads. Nepal is another treasure trove of coins with Asian buildings. Here is the stupa of Swayambhunath on a common Nepalese coin.

Peter

[RHM22]

This is an extremely interesting thread along with some extremely interesting coins. Your collection is very extensive, Peter. Very nice!

By the way, the last Thai coin posted appears to dated 2551 BE rather than 2550.

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I have been unable to find out which building is on the coin: Yunnan KM493, 20 cents year 38.

However, it looks like this building, the birthplace and residence (now a museum) of Chen Yun, in Qing Pu, now part of Shanghai. The house is pictured on Y1208. Except of course that neither the date, nor the issuing province make sense.

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Here is a spectacular pattern coin from Indonesia with Prambanan temple, a UNESCO world heritage site. The coin shows one tower for more detail, but the site boasts more towers.

Peter






 
 

[andyg]

Here is a similar building so far not mentioned, If you'd like to do the honours Peter...?

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This is of course the central part of the famous Cambodian temple of Angkor Wat, rising out of the jungle. The picture was taken from a different angle. The temple was much plundered during the "Vietnamese war", but it is now a major tourist attraction again. Don't miss the spectacular model of the site at the bottom of the wiki page.

Peter

[<k>]

Vietnam, 2003.

1] 1000 dong. Bat De Pagoda in Hanoi.

2] 2000 dong. Highland Stilt House in Tay Nguyen.

3] 5000 dong. Chua Mot Cot Pagoda in Hanoi.

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Thanks E. M. U.

I haven't found a decent pic of this building in the Ly Bat De complex. It is in the background on the first picture.

The second picture is a communal house of the Bah Nar people.

The third picture shows One Pillar Pagoda, one of the better known landmarks of Hanoi. I am a bit unhappy to see that the stately staircase is not on the coin.

Peter

[<k>]

The second picture is a communal house of the Bah Nar people.

Peter

Is there a purpose behind the disproportionately large roof?

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I don't know, but my guess is that it was a combination of reasons. One was probably that they didn't have the technology to build multi-storied constructions, while roofs are easier because part of the weight of roof and (diminishing sized) floors is borne by the two sides of the roof, rather than the supporting walls. My guess is that the main purpose of the upper floors was storage of food. If so, heating at the bottom would have helped dry and preserve stored goods and the shape of the building would have guided the heat up to the right places, controlled by vents at the top of the roof. Compare the Oast houses in Kent.

Peter

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Amazingly, Namdaemun (Main South Gate) never made it to a real coin, so here it is on a pseudo coin.

The city gate is one of the few old buildings left standing after the Korean war, becoming an instant symbol of South Korea. It burnt in 2008 and has since been completely restored. Its name was also used for a huge nearby open air market. Both the gate and the market attract many visitors and rightly so.

Peter