page_title: Historical money of Tibet
section_title: End of the 18th century
hierarchical_section_title: Historical money of Tibet / Coinage / End of the 18th century
caption_attribution_description: English: Tibetan silver coin. Type: Kong-par tangka (reverse)
context_page_description: The use of historical money in Tibet started in ancient times, when Tibet had no coined currency of its own. Bartering was common, gold was a medium of exchange, and shell money and stone beads were used for very small purchases. A few coins from other countries were also occasionally in use.
  Coins were first used in a more extensive way in the 17th century: these were silver coins supplied by Nepal. There were however various difficulties with this system. In 1763/64 and 1785 the first silver coins were struck in Tibet. In 1792 the first mass-produced silver coins were created under joint Chinese and Tibetan authority. Coins bearing Tibetan inscriptions only were subsequently replaced by issues which had Chinese and Tibetan legends. This lasted until the 1830s. In 1840 purely Tibetan coinage was struck under Tibetan authority, and this coinage continued being made until 1954, with only two short interruptions when Sino-Tibetan coins were issued.
  In 1910 the Tibetan government started producing a large range of copper and silver coins of different denominations, and in 1918 to 1921, gold coins were struck. Tibetan banknotes were first issued in 1913.
context_section_description: In order to resume the profitable coin export on their terms, the Nepalese invaded Tibet in 1788 and again in 1790/91. When the Tibetan Government turned to China for help, an imperial army was sent to Tibet. Together with the Tibetan army they managed to drive out the Nepalese by the autumn of 1792.
  The Chinese took this opportunity to tighten their grip on Tibet, and issued an edict which among other dispositions stipulated the introduction of a new silver coinage, struck in the name of the Qianlong Emperor. In the same time it was from now on forbidden to import silver coins from Nepal.
  In order to solve temporarily the shortage of coins in Tibet when the Chinese army arrived in 1791, the Chinese had allowed the striking of the so-called "Kong-par tangkas" which were produced from alloyed silver and had a design copied from Nepalese prototypes. These tangkas which first were produced in the Kongpo province and later in Lhasa, were the first mass-produced silver coins of Tibet and had about the same weight as their Nepalese counterparts, i.e. about 5.2 grams.
  From 1793 new coins made from almost pure silver were struck in Lhasa. These had both Tibetan and Chinese inscriptions. Meanwhile, the striking of the Kong-par tangkas continued through the year 1792 and in early 1793. Both types of coins were authorised by the Chinese, and struck under joint Chinese and Tibetan supervision, but they were not part of the Chinese currency system, as silver coinage was unknown in China during the 18th and early 19th century (with the exception of the area which is now Xinjiang autonomous region).
  In 1791 it was originally planned by the Chinese authorities to cast copper cash coins in Tibet. Had this plan been carried out, the Tibetan coinage could have become part of the Chinese currency system. But this plan was abandoned because it was found to be too expensive to transport copper from China to Tibet in order to cast cash coinage in Lhasa.
  Between 1791 and 1836 the Tibetan currency was largely decided on by the Chinese government in consultation with Tibetan authorities, and silver coins were struck to the sho (zho) standard (i.e. about 3.7 grams) in the 58th, 59th and 60th year of Qianlong (1793, 1794 and 1795).
  A few silver coins were also struck in the 61st year of Qianlong (1796) who had abdicated towards the end of his 60th year in power. By the time the news of his abdication reached Lhasa, some silver coins of the 61st year had already been struck and released for circulation.
caption: kong par tangka dated 13-45(= AD 1791),reverse
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