The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-07-11
CURRENCY OF THE CHINESE
what It In Made or and How Et
FInceuates I'm VafRe

What Kt In Made or asd How Et
FInctuates fs Vaiae
Washington. July 10.-The reports which
indicate that the Chinese copper coins
know as cash" are disappearing because
OF their appreciating value and that silver
coins aTe to I'LL the vacancy thus created
in the currency of China lends special
interest to a statement recently prepared
by the treasury bureau OF statistics re-
| garding the currency Of China. The money
OF China, It says. is uncertain as to
| quantity and quality. No accurate esti-
mate has been made of the amount Of
money in circulation in the empire, while
no accurate statement can be made to-
| day of what Its value will be tomorrow.
| Based upon silver, its value fuctuates
| with the changes In the market price Of
| silver. The copper cash." valued at
| about one-tenth Of a cent, Is the actual
circulating medium, while the teal is the
nominal standard for larger sums, II be-
ing merely given weight of silver. and
| not coin. Actual silver circulates in
! two forms, the dollar and the ''sycee'
The dollar was originally the Mexican
dollar, and became a popular and gener-
ally accepted form of currency wherever
obtained. So convenient was IL that large
quantities were imported for use as cur
rency. More recently, however. minis for
the coinage OF dollars purporting to be of
weight and fineness equal TO Mexican dol
lars have been established, not by the
central government, but by the authori-
ties of the various provinces, and the re-
suit is that the rivalry between these
provincial minis has reduced the weight
and fineness of the dollars which they
issue until the provisional silver dollars
are looked upon with distrust. dditional
minis, however, are being established. the
machinery for them being from the
United States. Some half dozen of the
cities of China now have their mints for
the coinage of dollars" and work Is in
progress upon local minis in other cities,
so that by the end Of the present year.
according to a recent issue of the North
China Daily News. at least ten different
kinds of silver coins purporting to be
dollars will be upon the market. In ad-
dition to this uncertainty may be pointed
out the fact that the "taeP' differs in
various cities and provinces. the weight
OF silver recognized as tael being great
er at some points than at others. The
consequence Is that while the haikwan,
or customs, tael was worth, on Jauary !,
1899. 72.2c Cgold). the Annoy tael was worth
but tic, the Canton tael 70.Sc, the Chin |
kiang tael 69.Sc, the Ningpo tael 6S.2c, the
Chefoo tael 67.9c, the Hankow tael 66.4c, |
the Foochow tael $3.50, and the Shanghai |
tael 64Sc. Even the "sycee.' which Is an |
actual quantity of silver cast In the form |
of a shoe with the weight written upon II |
in Chinese characters, Is somewhat In
certain as to its value, both by reason Of
the constant fluctuation in the price of the
silver whic hit contains and the unce:-
tainty as to the fineness of the silver
All efforts to learn the exact
fneness of the standard silver used in the
sycee have been unsuccessful, th2ugh the
estimates put the rate at ninety seven
which Is considerably in
EXCESS of the American coin. which is
ninety one-hundredths fine. The sytee is
merely an indefinite quantity cast in the
term of woman's shoe, it, actual
weight being determined by agents or
officers appointed by the merchants 20
weight the sycees, accuracy and integrity
On their part being insured ny actual
physical decapftation OF Those who ave
'Jdrd dishonest. Even the "clsh, cop
per ard zinc coin about tns size of OLi
$. Ceht piece having a square hoe in the
enter for convenience in stringns guam
tiles Of them tos :her. var Is greatly
,orh In fneness AMI weight. IN some
Uses I,O0c OF them being equal 10 a dol
Tar" while In others nearly 1000 are re-
Iuired oeuual dollar" Gold coin is
Practically unknown in China. no coins
Il this metal being made at the mints,
nd gold coins OF other countries have
e,dom, II ever, circulated, though the
alue of the metal is fully recognized. and
old. whether In coin or bulk, proves
Medium of exchange upon determination
( its weight and fineness when occasion
ecuires (
The uncertainty as to the quality and
uantity Of the metals contained In the
arious coins and measures OF weight ;
makes an attempt to indicate the rela-
i've weight of the monetary units diff
ult and somewhat uncertain. though a ,
ecent Official CONSULAR statement ruts
he relative values as follows:
10 CASH. condemn.
10 conderin| mace. ,
10 maceI taeI.
tael-1 1-3 ounces (averdupois) of sill ,
er Cvalue Of haikwan tael on January /.
60 722c).
Mexican dollars and local dollars thus !,
lual about three-fourths Of one haikwan
.el In value. though no official relation
hin exists save in the weight and fine :
ess Of metal in the dollars compared
ith the standard tael. !,
All customs duties are collected in what
known as the "Haikwan tael," which
as a somewhat higher value than the
.eI standard accepted in the respective
ties.