Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2021 November 15

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November 15

Front and rear of currency - are they ever alike?

Are there any banknotes on which the rear side is printed identically, or nearly identically, to the front side? What is the purpose of not printing both sides identically? As for coins, are there any with both sides identical? Is there any reason for having the two sides different, other than to allow flipping a coin? 71.235.101.14 (talk) 00:57, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

Or why not leave one side blank, as on Monopoly money? A traditional anti-counterfeiting measure is to use images with very fine detail. If both sides carry the same image, it makes counterfeiting easier. Also, traditionally, a banknote displays images representing icons of national pride. Having a different obverse and reverse offers more room for such imagery.  --Lambiam 09:07, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

Bank of England £5 notes, known as "white fivers", were only printed on one side until 1957, the reverse side was blank. They were all withdrawn from circulation by 1961. Alansplodge (talk) 15:12, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

One-sided coins are generally mint-made errors and are known as uni-face_coins.

In my youth, there was a popular British pub game called shove ha'penny, which consisted of sliding old halfpenny coins into different areas of a wooden board. To ensure consistent movement, the reverse was usually polished smooth, leaving only the obverse with markings. Removing the Queen's head was believed to be illegal and would certainly have been unpatriotic. Alansplodge (talk) 16:08, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

Some early American currency was printed with little or nothing on the reverse. However, those things generally were not worth a continental. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:37, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

I have seen inflationary Weimar Republic Reichsmark notes with print on only one side. --Error (talk) 21:02, 17 November 2021 (UTC)

Ezo during the Sengoku period

Was Hokkaidō (or better Ezo), or areas of it, ever part of Japan during the Sengoku period? Thank you. --195.62.160.60 (talk) 12:42, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

According to the article you already linked, the first Japanese colony on Hokkaido, on the southern tip of the Oshima Peninsula, occurred during the time frame you site. The Matsumae clan established a fief on the Peninsula, and built the Matsumae Castle in 1606. Other than the areas controlled by the Matsumae, the rest of the Island was not brought under Japanese control until the Tokugawa Shogunate, which was over a century later. --Jayron32 13:05, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

See also Shinoridate, a fort built on the Oshima Peninsula by the Wajin (ethnic Japanese) in the fourteenth century. It was one of the Twelve Garrisons of Southern Hokkaido, but we don't have articles about the other eleven (there's a challenge!). They were sacked by the Ainu during Koshamain's War of 1457, an event described in the epic Shinra no Kiroku. Alansplodge (talk) 15:30, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

Hearst newspaper archives

Are the Hearst newspapers' archives available online? I am particularly interested in the 1920's and 1930's. Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 14:14, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

Have you tried Newspapers.com or NewspaperArchive? Those are the biggest I know about. There is also Wikipedia:List of online newspaper archives to explore more. --Jayron32 14:21, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

Thanks, I've applied via the Wikipedia Library for access to both newspapers.com and NewspaperArchive. My main interest is in the articles Lloyd George wrote for syndication, which I understand were mainly published in Hearst papers. I don't think anyone has ever come up with a list or index of them, though some were collected as Lloyd George, David (1923). Is It Peace?. London: Hodder and Stoughton. and (the same articles, but arranged differently) Lloyd George, David (1923). Where Are We Going?. New York: George H. Doran Company.. DuncanHill (talk) 15:10, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

Another option is to look for archives of the individual papers themselves. Many of them are listed at Hearst Communications#Newspapers and many of them were Hearst properties back in the 1920s. They may have their own online archives run at the individual papers. --Jayron32 19:02, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

The search functions at Chronicling America are not great, but it looks like many are available. Haven't missed yet be searching phrases from Is it Peace, e.g.[1] and found more by searching for "by the right hon. david lloyd george"[2], but you have to wade through many false positives. fiveby(zero) 19:18, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

@Lambiam: It looks like some, at least some of the more obvious, are on Newspapers.com - of course part of the problem is I don't know which titles took the syndicated columns! But having some at least to narrow things down is helpful. @Fiveby: Thanks, I wasn't aware of "Chronicling America" before but it looks like it should be very useful. DuncanHill (talk) 19:40, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

errr...forgot Trove, they look to have a bunch. fiveby(zero) 19:50, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

Also good, and the suggestion of searching for "Rt Hon David Lloyd George" will be helpful too. Have just encountered the memorable phrase "When the German rhinoceros recovers his strength, jackals may be trampled in the coming struggle". DuncanHill (talk) 20:00, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

South American Cave Paintings

What are the second oldest-known cave paintings in South America? Thanks, Tyrone Madera (talk) 19:19, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

That's rather specific; the best option I can find is that as of 2009 this stick figure with a giant penis was the oldest at about 10,000 years old; it would be a candidate for second oldest given that in 2019 this rock paintings were discovered and dated to about 12,500 years old, which are the current record holder. Whether any discoveries made since 2009 would have slid in between those two, I cannot say. Another candidate may be the Cueva de las Manos, which has been dated to possibly 11,000 years ago. Rank-ordering these things is tricky, the error bars on the dating methods often means that many of these have overlapping claims. --Jayron32 19:42, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

Jayron32, This was a very helpful response. Thank you! Tyrone Madera (talk) 18:03, 17 November 2021 (UTC)