Thomas James Waters (1842-1898) and the Mint at Osaka

Title
Thomas James Waters (1842-1898) and the Mint at Osaka
Publication Date
2014
Author(s)
Vivers, Meg I
Editor
Editor(s): Georges Depeyrot
Type of document
Conference Publication
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Moneta
Place of publication
Wetteren, Belgium
Series
Collection Moneta
UNE publication id
une:16489
Abstract
One of the first and most important initiatives of the incoming Meiji Government in 1868 was the building of a Mint at Osaka. This was necessary for the production of a new uniform coinage of high quality. The important role played by Irishman Thomas James Waters in the planning and construction of the Osaka Mint is discussed here, with speculation, too, about Waters' connection with the Hong Kong Mint, built several years earlier. Attention is also drawn to other links between the Mint at Hong Kong and the Mint at Osaka. Early in 1869 Waters was put in sole charge of the Osaka project. Making use of a selection of materials purchased from the by then obsolete Mint in Hong Kong, he took on the complex task of designing and supervising the construction of the new coin-making facility, along with adjacent western-style buildings. Faced with multiple setbacks, he had overseen the completion of most of the work by late 1870, an extraordinary accomplishment for someone so young, and with limited experience in such a vast and difficult project. His successful completion of the Mint facility would establish Waters as a man of integrity, imagination and ability, and he and his two brothers would go on to make a significant contribution to the further Westernisation of Japan, particularly in and around Tokyo, during a period now known as the Waters era.
Link
Citation
Documents and Studies on 19th c. Monetary History: When Orient and Occident Meet. Proceedings of the Round Table of the "Silver Monetary Depreciation and International Relations" program, p. 327-335
ISBN
9789491384448
Start page
327
End page
335

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