From Valuable to Worthless and Back Again: Pre-1950 Chinese Currency

Finding some in Extra Fine, let alone in crisp Uncirculated condition, can be quite daunting and present a multi-year undertaking. In fact, previously unknown and valuable discovery pieces are still being found. For these reasons, it is not surprising that many surviving Republic banknotes have defects.

• It eliminates distractions and makes entry or exit timing more clear by identifying early momentum changes and trend shifts.
• This was an attempt by the Kuomintang to prevent the hyperinflation affecting the mainland from affecting Taiwan.
• Joe Lang has given me permission to use images and information from Steven Album rare coins, mostly from their auction results, so I will be adding types and information over time.
• As of now, we do not have information regarding the price changes of Yuang Coin over the past 7 days.

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Bronze inscriptions on Zhou coins serve as primary evidence which gives details about issuing authorities and intended denominations. These inscriptions show the relationship between political authority and economic systems. Surrounding the mint mark, are the characters 光 (Guāng), 緒 (Xù),元 (Yuán), 寶 (Bǎo).

thoughts on “How to recognise Chinese currency”

Palace cash should may or may not be considered a type of amulet. According to the Krause catalogue of world coins, these were made as New Years gifts to people in the Imperial Palace, usually eunuchs and guards, who hung them below lamps. Hartill, in “Qing Cash” (Royal Numismatic Society, 2003) agrees they were handed out as gifts in the Palace, but only on the establishment of each new Reign title, and were wrapped in red cloth.

During the mid-years of what is known as the Opium War, where most of the country’s silver was exported to Europe and India due to the purchase of opium. The silver content of the coins was changed to 80% of silver and during the height of the silver famine was reduced down to as little as 40% silver. The rest of the coins composition varied, however coins minted by the Imperial mint used brass, copper and finally iron to fill the rest of the weight of the coin. Merchant “silver dollars”, that is, coins that were minted for use in the bartering with merchant sailors and on the silk road, were 90% silver. The Renminbi in Foreign ExchangeDuring the command economy, the Chinese Yuan Renminbi was set to unrealistic exchange values and as a result, severe currency guidelines were put in place. When China’s economy opened in 1978, the Yuan Renminbi was only used domestically and foreigners used exchange certificates; this led to a powerful black market.

New Taiwan dollar

The situation was exacerbated by the multitude of commercial, provincial and foreign yuang coin banks issuing currencies all at different values. In 1889, the Chinese yuan was introduced at par with the Spanish dollar or Mexican peso or Philippine peso and was subdivided into 10 jiao (角, not given an English name, cf. dime), 100 fen (分, cents), and 1000 wen (文, cash). The yuan was equivalent to 7 mace and 2 candareens (or 0.72 tael) and, for a time, coins were marked as such in English. The Song dynasty saw the first true introduction of paper money as currency.

Although they were traded among merchants, Jiaozi was not intended to be currency, but rather akin to modern day bank drafts. They could only be redeemed at government offices or the centers of government sponsored groups. These proved so useful the state took over production of this form of paper money with the first state-backed printing in 1024. By the 12th century, various forms of paper money had become the dominant forms of currency in China and were known by a variety of names such as jiaozi, huizi, kuaizi, or guanzi. The Han dynasty issued Wu Zhu coins, which remained in circulation for over 700 years.

Opium War ‘Silver’

These coins, which are commonly called “Lohan Coins” differ in the way the bottom character “K’ang” is drawn without the upright at the left. A myth about this variety claims they were cast from gilt bronze statues of Lohan’s (attendants to Buddha), so each coin contains a trace of gold. No testing has found even a trace of gold in these, and there is nothing to support belief in this myth, which appears to originate in the mid-19th century. Burger, in his study of Ch’ing Dynasty cash, made a case for these coins being a special issue of AD 1713, to celebrate K’ang Hsi’s 60th birthday. The two principal mints in Peking have “BOO” on the left, and the mint name on the right, both in Manchu script.

The mint name is always on the right with “YI LI” (meaning 1 thousandth of an ounce (tael) of silver) on the left. The first series has a blank reverse, and was probably only issued in 1644. The coinage of Ch’ing is fairly straightforward, and with one exception the Ch’ing Emperors used only one reign title each on their coins, which is why they are better known by their reign titles than their real names. Most references date the start of the Ch’ing dynasty to 1644 when Shih Tsu’s came to the throne but that is a very arbitrary date. One could place it at 1559 when Nurhachu established the Dynasty that became Ch’ing, or in 1638 when his son officially changed the name to Ching, or even in 1681 when the Ch’ing finally took control of all China.

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The frequency of usage of coins varies between different parts of China, with coins typically being more popular in urban areas, and small notes being more popular in rural areas. Older fen and large jiao coins are uncommonly still seen in circulation but are still valid in exchange. The use of cast cash coinage all but came to an end shortly after 1912, so these Hsuan-T’ung coins saw little use and are normally seen in a grade of XF to near mint state condition with clear original file marks. Coins appearing to grading F or VF are usually just poor castings rather than worn coins. T’ung Chih also issued some larger denomination coins in both brass and copper, in 4, 5 and 10 cash denominations. The 4 and 5 cash are rare and seldom seen, but the 10 cash turn up fairly often.

• Not quite as rare but almost as rare is this set of 5 50-yuan coins of 1993 on the topic of “inventions and discoveries of antiquity”.
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• Usually between 30 and 40 mm, with the first issue being under Ch’ien-lung in 1736, and continuing for each succeeding Emperor to the end of the Ching Dynasty.
• Established in Shijiazhuang, the new bank took over currency issuance in areas controlled by the Communist Party.
• Coins appearing to grading F or VF are usually just poor castings rather than worn coins.
• Most coins after K’ang Hsi, use the “BOO” and mint name in Manchu reverse type, with some later issues having extra characters in Chinese to denote additional information (denominations or dating).

When I compared the relative rarity and price of the People’s Republic with the Republic of China notes, I saw a glaring disparity. PRC notes of a similar rarity with Republic ones would sell for many multiples of the latter. In fact, some very rare Republic notes could often be bought for a few hundred dollars or less, if you could find them. Be the first to spot deals, new arrivals, and golden nuggets of wisdom straight from the source. The reverse design, featuring the national emblem, is another hallmark of the series, offering a visual connection between the coin’s cultural significance and its connection to China’s modern identity. The emblem itself consists of five stars, the Great Wall, and a red ribbon, all representing the unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party.

More importantly, Chinese Panda gold coins are one of many bullion investments seeing extraordinary interest due to their purity and status as China’s official gold bullion coin. On 6 January 2011, the Central Bank of the Republic of China issued a new 100–dollar legal tender circulating commemorative in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China. The red paper note measures 145 × 70 mm and features a portrait of Dr. Sun Yat-sen on the front and the Chung-Shan Building on the back. The design is no different from the ordinary NT$100 note, except for the Chinese wording on the reverse of the note, which reads “Celebrating 100 years since the founding of the Republic of China (慶祝中華民國建國一百年)”. The current set includes banknotes for NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000, and NT$2,000.

Surrounding the emblem is the denomination “五元” (5 Yuan), indicating the face value of the coin. The coin is also inscribed with the words “1/20 Ounce Gold,” denoting the weight of the coin, which is precisely 1/20th of an ounce of pure gold. Gold bullion coins direct from the People’s Republic of China feature some of that proud nation’s most significant symbols.