(File photos)
Just about everything portable and of value has been used as money through the last 3,000 years of Chinese history. Jade, pearl and turtle and sea shells were among the precursors of coins and currency. Gold and copper moved into the money picture during the Period of the Warring States (403-221 B.C.). Early coins were made in the shape of useful objects, such as knives, and could be strung together. Silver came in during Sung times (960.D.). For several hundred years thereafter, the silver tael (a unit of weight) or liang had wide circulation. The weight was officially figured at 583.3 grains troy but actually varied from place to place. Sun Yat-sen had the coin above minted to mark 1911 National Revolution which overthrew Ch'ing and led to the Republic.
Paper money goes back to Sung times of nearly a thousand years ago. There were issues during the Yuan and Ming dynasties but public circulation was small. In 1914, the third year of the Republic, the government promulgated the kuo pi, or national money, and silver-based yuan became the monetary unit. The note shown here was for five yuan and hears the portrait of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the Founding Father. This currency was printed in by the American Bank Note Company and issued by the Central Bank of in 1930.
The reverse side includes the denomination of "five dollars" in English, although the "dollars" were equated to yuan and not to any foreign monetary unit. The Central Bank promised to pay the bearer in silver yuan on demand at its office in . The coin at left was minted in 1933 and the profile is that of Dr. Sun.
Silver-based notes were withdrawn in 1934 because of the rising international price of the metal. The new unit was the fa pi or "legal money." Examples shown here bear the portrait of President Chiang Kai-shek, then a three-star general. At the outset this new currency helped to stabilize the economy.
The intricate pattern of lines which make up the borders of these and other bills of the time made them more difficult to counterfeit. Because bank checks were not much used until the last few years, the demand for currency was large. Denominations still tend to be small. The biggest now circulating is NT$100 (NT$40=US$1).
In addition to the national monetary system, each province issued its own banknotes. These were used locally and served as tender between the province and National Government. Note above was from the Bank of Kwangsi and had a value of "10 cents."
Product of a Chinese printer in Hongkong, this currency was blue on the face side and red with yellowish background on the reverse. The note at right (face side, top, and reverse, bottom) is from Sinkiang province. The denomination of 10 cents was worth one-tenth of one yuan at the time. The horizontal writting on the back side is Uighur but the date at bottom (1939) is in arabic numerals.
Issuing authority was the Commercial Bank of Sinkiang. Rural scene on the front side emphasized Sinkiang's agricultural progress and the importance of better roads and transport.
Five yuan note at left was an issue of the Central Bank of in 1945 and was printed by the American Bank Note Company. Unlike the 1930 note from the same printer, the denomination is stated in yuan, not dollars. The portrait is of Dr. Lin Sen, ex-head of the National Government.
One yuan coin above was minted at the order of Yuan Shih-kai and carries his portrait. The time was 1914, two years before Yuan proclaimed himself emperor. Supposedly of pure silver, this coin circulated mainly in the northeastern provinces. It was called the yuan ta t'ou, meaning the big head of General Yuan.
These two corns were minted by the Bank of Taiwan in 1966 to honor President Chiang Kai-shek on his 80th birthday. Herons on the NT$2,000 (U5$50) gold coin above symbolize longevity.
At right is an NT$1 silver coin bearing a "Happy Birthday" inscription. These coins were on public sale at the time of the President's birthday celebration. The New Taiwan Dollar is now so sound that there is no appreciable difference between official and unofficial rates. This is true of only a few monetary systems in the Far East.