Interpretation of the Qing Dynasty Monetary Management System There are two main types of currency in the Qing Dynasty: silver taels and money, of which silver taels are mainly used in bulk transactions and financial settlements, and money is used for small transactions and daily circulation.
Under normal circumstances, one tael of silver is exchanged for one thousand wen money. Silver is divided into four types: ingots, medium ingots, ingots, and drop beads, of which ingots are the most common shape. However, under the influence of film and television works, many people mistakenly believe that silver taels are the main currency of private circulation, but in fact, the circulation of silver taels is far less extensive than that of money.
This was due to the fact that at that time, prices were low, and few goods on the market were worth more than two pennies, except for commodities and rare curios.
Even if there are a large number of goods, the common people prefer to use money, because there is a uniform standard for money, which is not easy to cause confusion. The use of the silver tael is subjected to"Fineness"with"Weight"The fineness is the purity of silver, and the official standard is a silver content of 93About 5% silver.
However, the silver content of the silver in circulation in various provinces of the country is not the same, some are higher than the silver, and some are lower than the silver. When using silver taels, you need to go to a professional silver shop for identification, which is a time-consuming and laborious process, and you need to pay an additional fee.
There are also a variety of weight standards for silver taels, such as the official ones"Kupin", circulation market"Ichiping", customs levy"Guan Ping"and the use of grain"Cao Ping"etc., making the use of silver taels more complicated.
For example, someone buys something in the market for a tael of silver. First, the treasurer had to check the fineness of the silver, and then he had to weigh it. This trading process is quite cumbersome. Also, during the Qing Dynasty, the silver counterfeiting technology was very high, and if you don't have enough expertise, you can be easily deceived, which is why many people don't like to use silver.
The system of using silver is outdated and the procedures are cumbersome. With the development of China and the West, many well-made and unified silver dollars have entered the Chinese market. These silver dollars have a uniform silver content and are mostly denominated in "one dollar".
Because of the lack of fineness and weight, the silver dollar quickly occupied an important position in the circulating market, and people preferred this new type of currency.
The credibility of the silver dollar is extremely high, and the silver content is two cents of the Kuping seven coins, so it is widely accepted in the market, and can even be used as silver eight coins. However, the influx of foreign silver dollars has had a huge impact on China's silver and silver system.
For this reason, in the thirteenth year of Guangxu, at the invitation of Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Liangguang, the imperial court began to mint a large number of silver dollars, which is the famous "Guangxu ingots". Because the back is cast with a dragon pattern, the common people call it "Longyang", and the weight is seven dollars and two cents.
In addition, there are four small silver dollars: three coins and six cents, one money and four cents, seven cents and two cents, and three cents and six cents. Usually what we call the "Qing Dynasty silver dollar" refers to the silver dollar with a face value of seven coins and two cents.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, silver taels and silver dollars were used together, and there was a fixed exchange ratio, one tael of silver was equal to 1388 silver dollars. According to the price level at that time, one tael of silver could buy about 100 catties of rice, so one silver dollar could buy about 72 catties of rice.
After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty silver dollar was no longer minted, and after Yuan Shikai served as the **big **, a large number of Yuan Datou silver dollars began to be issued, although its weight remained unchanged at seven coins and two cents, but the silver content was not as good as the Qing silver dollar, only 89%, so from the silver content, a Yuan Datou is only worth 064 taels or so.
After entering the **, prices soared, the monthly income of an ordinary worker is about 20 yuan, and one yuan can buy 30 to 60 catties of rice.
Of course, from the point of view of collection, whether it is the Qing Dynasty silver dollar or Yuan Datou, its historical value is much higher than the silver tael, the shape of the Qing Dynasty one tael of silver is mostly drop beads and broken silver, in addition to the value of the first century, there is not much historical and cultural connotation.
The value of cultural relics lies not only in their writing craftsmanship and cultural inheritance, but also in the large amount of silver such as 50 taels and 10 taels of ingots and ingots, which are particularly precious because of their collection value.
Although the silver dollar and the Yuan Datou are not of much value, they are highly sought after by collectors because of their exquisite silver minting and commemorative significance. Therefore, to evaluate the value of one tael of silver and one Yuan Datou, it is necessary to consider comprehensively from different angles.