Silver Dragon | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 龍銀 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 龙银 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | dragon money | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Silver Dragon coins,also sometimes known as Dragon dollars,are silver coins issued by China,Japan and later Korea for general circulation in their own countries. Featuring a dragon on the obverse of Japanese and Korean issues and on the reverse of Chinese issues,all were inspired by the silver Spanish dollar which following its introduction into the region in the 16th Century had set the standard for a de facto common currency for trade in the Far East,this specification being a weight of 27.22 grams and a fineness of .900;the coin thus contained 24.5 g (0.7876 troy oz) of silver. [1]
Following the establishment of the Spanish Philippines,Intramuros became an entrepôt for Chinese goods in one direction and silver,from across the Pacific to the Spanish held silver mines of Mexico,in the other. This so-called "Manila Galleons" trade route,led from the 16th Century onwards to the wide circulation and acceptance of "pieces of eight" in East Asia. Even after the end of the Spanish Empire in the Americas,Western nations wishing to trade with China found the preferred method of payment was the silver Mexican Peso,the successor of the Spanish dollar.
The high regard in which the Spanish-Mexican coins came to be held,led to the minting of silver Chinese yuan,Japanese yen and later Korean won coins to the same specifications as the Spanish ones i.e. a weight 7 mace and 2 candareens (approx. 27.22 grams or 420 grains) and a fineness of .900 (90%),for use as legal tender in their own countries. The name of these coins in all three countries derives from 圓,meaning round or circular object in all three languages,a link to these silver coins surviving in the modern names of the Chinese,Japanese and North and South Korean currencies,that is yuan,yen,and won.
These coins were joined in circulation by trade dollars and colonial currencies such as the Hong Kong dollar and the Straits dollar,which were produced to the same standard. Japan too would produce a trade dollar for external use which differed slightly from the yen coins it issued for its own use at home. The common standard to which all these coins were produced facilitated trade as theoretically they were interchangeable with one another on a one for one basis. However this was moderated by the fact that the general population were suspicious of coins that they were not familiar with and with some of the provincial mints in China producing debased coins;having a lower silver content and therefore less valuable because of it.
Chinese coins of this type are known Kwangtung dollars from the old romanisation of the name of the mint that they were first produced in China,more popularly they are known in Chinese as 龍 銀,literally "Dragon Silver" or "Dragon Money",銀capable of being read as both silver or money.
Even before the official ending of the Qing dynasty factions and cliques emerged as would be warlords jostled for position and influence. As China headed into the republican and warlord eras,local warlords used the provincial mints to issue their own Silver Dragons,these are of variable quality and value. These warlord and pre-warlord era coins include high quality coins intended to promote the legitimacy and prestige of the warlord and his faction and are proudly marked as such;there are also low quality coins,the majority,intended to deceive the receiver into believing that they are earlier coins of higher silver content and value,though not fake-in so much that they came from semi-official sources-these were and are of variable value depending on their silver content. With the coming of the Chinese republic China would continue producing silver coins of the same specification updated to bear the image of Yuan Shikai and other politicians. China was forced from the silver standard in 1935,however even after the silver coins became demonetised they remained a highly prized means of preserving wealth in an era of inflation and war.
During the mid-years of what is known as the Opium War,where most of the country's silver was exported to Europe and India due to the purchase of opium. The silver content of the coins was changed to 80% of silver and during the height of the silver famine was reduced down to as little as 40% silver. The rest of the coins composition varied,however coins minted by the Imperial mint used brass,copper and finally iron to fill the rest of the weight of the coin. Merchant "silver dollars",that is,coins that were minted for use in the bartering with merchant sailors and on the silk road,were 90% silver.
The first Chinese Silver Panda collectable silver bullion coins were of the traditional specification of 27grams in weight,0.900 fineness.
Collecting silver dragon coins especially Chinese ones can be a financially hazardous prospect,with even experienced experts falling foul of fakes. There are modern fakes of genuine coins,historical fakes of genuine coins,and today given that some of the historical fakes have gained a numismatic value of their own,modern fakes of historical fakes.
The Korean won or Korean Empire won,was the official currency of the Korean Empire between 1900 and 1910. It was subdivided into 100 jeon.
The South Korean won is the official currency of South Korea. A single won is divided into 100 jeon,the monetary subunit. The jeon is no longer used for everyday transactions,and it appears only in foreign exchange rates. The currency is issued by the Bank of Korea,based in the capital city of Seoul.
The Spanish dollar,also known as the piece of eight,is a silver coin of approximately 38 mm (1.5 in) diameter worth eight Spanish reales. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content 25.563 g (0.8219 ozt) fine silver. It was widely used as the first international currency because of its uniformity in standard and milling characteristics. Some countries countermarked the Spanish dollar so it could be used as their local currency.
Trade dollars were silver coins minted as trade coins by various countries to facilitate trade with countries in East Asia,especially China and Japan. They all approximated in weight and fineness to the Spanish dollar,which had set the standard for a de facto common currency for trade in the Far East.
The Manchukuo yuan was the official unit of currency of the Empire of Manchuria,from June 1932 to August 1945.
The silver standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed weight of silver. Silver was far more widespread than gold as the monetary standard worldwide,from the Sumerians c. 3000 BC until 1873. Following the discovery in the 16th century of large deposits of silver at the Cerro Rico in Potosí,Bolivia,an international silver standard came into existence in conjunction with the Spanish pieces of eight. These silver dollar coins played the role of an international trading currency for nearly four hundred years.
The history of Chinese currency spans more than 3000 years. Currency of some type has been used in China since the Neolithic age which can be traced back to between 3000 and 4500 years ago. Cowry shells are believed to have been the earliest form of currency used in Central China,and were used during the Neolithic period.
The yuan is the base unit of a number of former and present-day currencies in Chinese.
The piastre de commerce was the currency of French Indochina between 1885 and 1954. It was subdivided into 100 cents,each of 2~6 sapèques.
The yang (양/兩) was the currency of the Korean states Joseon and the Korean Empire between 1892 and 1902. It was subdivided into 10 jeon (전/錢) or 100 bun (분/分);and 5 yang = 1 hwan (환/圜).
The cash was a currency denomination used in China in imperial times. It was the chief denomination until the introduction of the yuan in the late 19th century.
The coins of the Australian dollar were introduced on 14 February 1966,although they did not at that time include the one-dollar or two-dollar coins. The dollar was equivalent in value to 10 shillings in the former currency.
Japanese currency has a history covering the period from the 8th century CE to the present. After the traditional usage of rice as a currency medium,Japan adopted currency systems and designs from China before developing a separate system of its own.
The 1-yen coin is the smallest denomination of the Japanese yen currency. Historically they were initially made of both silver and gold in the early 1870s. Issues facing the Japanese government at the time included wanting to adopt the gold standard,and competing against the Mexican dollar for use in foreign trade. The decision was made to use silver one yen coins exclusively outside of Japan for trade,while gold coins were minted and used in mainland Japan. Gold and silver coins were eventually allowed to co-circulate in mainland Japan from 1878 to 1897 when they were demonetized. Millions of former one yen silver coins were countermarked by the Japanese government for use outside of the mainland. Silver one yen coins continued to be minted until 1914 for backing up currency.
The 50 sen coin (五十銭硬貨) was a Japanese coin worth half of a Japanese yen,as 100 sen equalled 1 yen. These coins circulated from the late 19th century to the early 1950s,when Japan adopted a single currency unit and this coin was demonetized.
The 20 sen coin (二十銭銀貨) was a Japanese coin worth one fifth of a Japanese yen,as 100 sen equalled 1 yen. These coins were all minted in silver during the Meiji era from 1870 to 1911.
The history of Philippine money covers currency in use before the Hispanic era with gold Piloncitos and other commodities in circulation,as well as the adoption of the peso during the Hispanic era and afterwards.
Qing dynasty coinage was based on a bimetallic standard of copper and silver coinage. The Manchu-led Qing dynasty was proclaimed in 1636 and ruled over China proper from 1644 until it was overthrown by the Xinhai Revolution in 1912. The Qing dynasty saw the transformation of a traditional cash coin-based cast coinage monetary system into a modern currency system with machine-struck coins,while the old traditional silver ingots would slowly be replaced by silver coins based on those of the Mexican peso. After the Qing dynasty was abolished,its currency was replaced by the Chinese yuan of the Republic of China.
Countermarked yen refers to Japanese trade dollars and 1 yen coins that are stamped 銀,literally meaning "silver". The countermark was added by the Japanese government in 1897 to these coins dated up to that point. This came at a time when Japan went onto the gold standard prompting the government to confine these two denominations for use outside the mainland. Due to their eye appeal,these coins are now regarded as collectibles by preference.
Beginning in 1914,silver coinage featuring the portrait of Chinese president and military leader Yuan Shikai was minted across the Republic of China to replace the previous Imperial coinage. The most prominent and numerous of these coins,the Yuan Shikai dollar remained in production long after Yuan's death in 1916. Designed by Luigi Giorgi,the coin features a profile bust of Yuan wearing a military uniform on the obverse,with a wreath of grain and the denomination of one yuan on the reverse. It served to replace the imperial Dragon Dollar and the various foreign silver dollars in circulation in China.