The London Quarterly Review, Vol. 115: January-April, 1864 (Classic Reprint)

Name: The London Quarterly Review, Vol. 115: January-April, 1864 (Classic Reprint)
Brand: Forgotten Books
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Excerpt from The London Quarterly Review<br/><br/>With regard to the relative importance of the precious metals, silver, in Virtue of itscaerel use as a medium of exchange. Holds t e first rank. It is principally obtained from some mines in the rovince of Yunnan, near the borders of Cochin China; there are also said to be extensive Governinent mines in Shansi and Shantung, but our information with respect to them is at present incomplete, and we have no data from which it is possible to estimate the amount extracted. It is evi dent, however, judging from the quantity used and exported, that the mines both in the north and south are rich and extensively worked. Silver is brought into the market in variously sized ingots, which from their shape have been called shoes. These ingots represent certain fixed weights in Taels, and are stamped, as a guarantee for their purity, with the names of the chief workmen and bankers, and also the district from which they are sent, and the year in which they are cast This Syeee silver, so called from theoombina tion of two Chinese words denoting fineness, is sold by weight, and in all transactions of importance is almost invariably employed for the purpose of exchange. The indemnities for the late wars have been paid in this form, and it is in Sycee also that all the taxes in money are collected, and forwarded to the provincial or imperial treasuries. In those commercial ports now open to trade the ordinary coinage employed in the transactions with foreigners-are Spanish and Mexican dollars. These, however, as they change their owners, decrease rapidly in value, in consequence of the Chinese custom of stamping on them the name of the last possessor or some other mark to prove their purity, by which process the coin in the course of time becomes ?attened, and a cer taiu quantity of the silver is lost.

Product details

Binding:: Paperback
Languages:: Published: English , Original: English
Number of Pages:: 614
Publisher:: Forgotten Books
Publication Date:: 2016-12-04
Weight:: 807 g

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