Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1900-09-20

that they are of no further use as
coins. They are principally the ones
! imported from Mexico and California
ing them out. They are melted and
refined, and the silver rates about SO
per cent fneness. They are nodded
in the form Of a shoe, and hence the
name of "snoes of sycee." Gold is
cast in small bars, about the size of a
cake of India ink, Or sometimes it is
fattened into thin leaves to avoid de-
ception and dishonesty, and these are
| fastened together by the hundreds and
used in commercial exchange as gold
| bar.
Counterfeiters fairly infest China.
! Not infrequently do the mint masters
| cOnnive at the fraud and boldly assist
the counterfeiters. Counterfeiting has
! become SO marked a feature in the
currency Of China that a regular line
! Of business of inspecting silver has
| been established, and the detectors,
called "shroffs," are so expert that
they can detect the slightest alloy
Just from the color Of the coin or in
got When the English first establish
ed themselves in Canton each Chinese
merchant carried his own private
money scales and made change en-
tirely by weight. If he had no small
coins Wherewith to make exact change,
he simply Clipped a piece from off
another coin. All the small chips
were preserved as change, without
specified value.
Within the last five or six years sill
yer has been extensively coined in
China, and has superseded the copper
cash, the only purely Chinese coin, up
to the advent of the foreigners. This
copper piece, called Tsien, originally
weighed a mace or about One-tenth
Of a tael. 1t was a circular coin lit
tie more than an inch in diameter and
had a square hole in the center for
convenience in carrying it on a string.
The coin has been SO reduced in size
and debased in value that instead Of
weighing 57.9S grains troy, or l mace,
it weighs generally about 80 grains.
At present the coin is about the size
Of our 25-cent piece and about One-halt
the thickness. 1t has two Chinese
words on the diverse side, "pao," or
current" and the name of the pro-
vince in which it is coined. On the re-
verse side there are four words a free
translation of which is money" cur
rent during the reign Of Faukwang,"
or whatever the emperOr'S name in
whose reign the coin was issued.
The normal value of the copper cash
to-day ranges from 900 to 1900 to the
silver dollar, or about one-tenth of a
cent; decided decrease in value from
that of the original coin. Copper cash
is minted by the government and put
in circulation through the payment of
soldiers and government officials.
MINIS are established in each pro-
yincial capital, under the direction OF
the board of revenue. There is a
government standard of copper alloy,
so; zinc, 4112; lead 61a, and tin, 2.
But the government itself is so dis
honest that even this cheap coin has
been debased by the introduction Of
iron, without legal recognition. The
exchange between copper cash and sill
yer is determined by the quantity Of
copper cash in circulation. This va
ries in the different provinces; as,
for instance, in 1898 in Picking $50
large cash could be obtained for l
Kung Fa tael, while LILO Shanghai
cash could be purchased for the same
amount and in Wuhu 1920 was OBJ
tainable, while in Shantung 1,210 could
be purchased. Copper cash has in
creased in value since the closing of
the India minis, and their i'm ortance
rs coin has been superseded by the
subsidiary silver coinage issued by
yhemints at Eien-tsin, Nuchang, Foo
chow and Canton.
The silver coins are neat and con-
venient and but for the fiuctuating
value that makes the monetary basis
Of China as unstable as all else con-
nected with this intricate kingdom,
the system of coinage would be most
satisfactory.
In 1851 to 1861 the Emperor Hen
Fung issued a copper coin equal in
value to 10 copper cash. This is one
| of the coins sought after by collectors,
as are also specimens of the iron cash
issued about the same time. 1t was
at first received as of equal value
with the copper cash; but it was soon
extensively counterfeited, and also be-
came rusty and quickly deprecated
in value 1t became unpopular, and
was recalled by the government. In
| 1858 from 1900 to 10000 iron cash
could be bought for the value of 81.
A few years ago when copper cash
was so deprecated in value, the peO
! pie secretly melted coins into metal
and manufactured domestic utensils
! from it rather than purchase the pure
metal, as the metal in the cash was
worth more than the monetary value
| Of the coin. This Illicit melting of
| copper cash was one cause of the in
! crease in the value of the coin.
The Chinese have many interesting
and advantageous ways Of conducting
| business. They have a brOtherly way
of mutually benefting one another
that is quite enticing. One man needs
money but does not wish to pay the
exorbitant rate of interest asked by
the money lender. He interests an
other man to assist him in procuring