The Pioche record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1908-1925, 1913-08-02
A CRAZY CURRENCY
China Has a Monetary System
That Borders On the Chaotic.
UNIT OF VALUE is THE TAEL.
Vet the TaeI Is Neither a Coin Nor an
Ingot. but Merely an Abstract Term.
and Signifies Unit of Weight-Si-
YER Shoes and Cash on String

and Signifies O Unit of Weight-Sil-
yer Shoes and Cash on a String.
OF the many strange things in China
aot the least strange is its currency.
10 the foreigner II seems miracle
that any business can be transacted
successfully with such a medium Of
exchange. II has been described as
chaotic. Nevertheless business and
trade flourish In China. which speaks
volumes for the business acumen or
the Chinese Perhaps the fact that
trade flourished In China long before
such thing as currency was known
accounts for the fact that the Chinese.
With such lax system as they now
possess. still stand In the front rank
If commercial nations.
In China all forms of exchange from
barter up are in use. A very large
pnrt of the countrys business is done
against the actual delivery OF weighed
silver. For convenience silver is melt
"a into rough ingots having the shape
of the Chinese shoe. These silver
lineness and weight The unit or
weight is the tael. which is equal to a
quantity OF silver weighing $50 grains
troy and Is worth about 80 cents In
our money
The tuei is not an ingot nor a coin.
but simply au abstract term signifying
unit OF weight, such as a pound OF
butter or an ounce" of gold Though
mn abstract term, 1t Is the measure of
wealth and the unit OF value through
out the length and breadth OF China
4 man buys business for so many
putcd In tnels. When be makes pay
lnent he weighs ont the silver accord
ing to this unit.
The silver shoes vary In weight from
one TO seventy five taeis All silver
shops and banks have FORCES. where
poured into mods The smelters with
their ladies and molds remind one of
co0Gs They stir the silver with a pair
of metal chopsticks To one not aware
OF what they We're doing Ii would be
natural to suppose that they were en-
gagged in connecting something good tc
eat In the process of retasting the
ingptS their NneneSS is often changed,
being either improved or debased
whichever hest suits the interests of
the shop Bankers and money chang
ers are able IL determine the quality
OF the silver ny the sense OF touch
fhs sellers or depoSitors are always
at their mercy and must often submit
10 the operation of having their silver
discounted on account OF bad touch"
In the interior ~ china small pnr
rhsses are made With copper coins
with square haieS in the center. These
are called cash" and are threaded on
strings So that they may he carried
across ones shoulder or on pole A
string of i.0N0 of these cash is worth
al,out 80 cents in our money. Some
times bits of silver are Clipped from
the silver shoes and used for small
purchases When travelling In the in.
terror one must take with him large
amount OF silver shoes. exchanging
them for strings nf cash nj the various
Shons. The money changers have two
sets of scales. one TO he nsed In the
purchase of silver and the other in the
selling OF it
In an attempt some years ago to In
trnduce q currency based on western
models the Chinese government pnr.
chased and put into circulation several
million Mexican dollars. The people
took 10 the new coins and called for
more. The provincial governments
Chinese dollars OF approximately the
same weight and fineneSs as the Next.
can dollars They also coined an enor.
nous amennt OF subsidiary items In
the shape of small silver coins ami
copper pennies
Soon il was discovered that the new
currency WAS as unstable as the old
The salee at the dnllar in relation to
the >uhSidiar, coinage varied from dav
tn day The cent WAS never worth the
hnndrcdth part of dollar. Some DAYS
10 cents We're required TO make nj
81, and on other days 1t took i;sn cents
Similarly the value OF the dollar as
compared With the tael was continual
ly tinctuasin. Sometimes $40 would
bring 70 taels and NJ other times only
sa II was ~iekeninc 10 th. people
hnt very proiitah ,r tn the monSs
changers Harl,er's Weekly
The Mozart Cycle.
The only works et Mozart designed