Chinese token (alternative currency)

Chinese tokens (Traditional Chinese: 中國代用幣; Simplified Chinese: 中国代用币; Pinyin: zhōng guó dài yòng bì) were token coins produced in China during the late Qing dynasty around the time of the Taiping Rebellion in the province of Jiangsu but not by the Taiping government. Later tokens were again issued in Jiangsu during the Japanese occupation. These tokens were typically made by merchants and local businesses as well as local authorities and had nominal values denominated in their value in cash coins.

During the Qing dynasty

Qing dynasty era Chinese tokens were cast in denominations of 100 cash, 200 cash, 500 cash, and 1000 cash as well as 1 chuàn (壹串, or 100 cash coins), 2 chuàn (贰串, or 200 cash coins), and 5 chuàn (伍串, or 500 cash coins) as the contemporary definition of a "string of cash coins" (串) in the province of Jiangsu at the time was a hundred cash coins but these tokens also had denominations of 1 guàn (一貫, or 1000 cash coins). The numbers that these Jiangsu tokens were denominated in were an indication that of economic instability in the region at the time as the difference between their intrinsic and nominal value was significant. In addition to their nominal value it was common for these Chinese tokens to contain various features of Chinese charms such as "good luck" symbols, and unlike most contemporary coins these Chinese tokens may also contain chop marks which were only a feature of silver coinage such as dragon dollars at the time. Chinese tokens often had coin-like inscriptions such as wàn lì tōng bǎo (萬曆通寶), but also contained other inscriptions describing their nominal value like bǎi hé tong yuán (百合同元, "this coin has the same worth as 100 of the primary currency"), chuán bù liú shǐ (傳不流矢, "(this token) circulates without losing value"), yì qiān wén zhèng (一仟文正, "(this token) is equal to one thousand cash coins"), and yì bǎi wén zhèng (一百文正) which means "one hundred cash coins only"). These Chinese tokens often had inscriptions usually found on Chinese charms and amulets like xiáng qìng róng huá (祥慶榮華, "happiness and celebration, prosperity and high position") and rì yòng guāng huī (日用光輝, "for daily use is glorious") and could also contain other charm features such as the eight trigrams. Some Chinese tokens could also resemble Jiā Qìng Tōng Bǎo (嘉慶通寶) cash coins but with a serrated edge.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Zheng Lu Bridge tokens

Zheng Lu Bridge tokens (Traditional Chinese: 鄭陸橋錢; Simplified Chinese: 郑陆桥钱; Pinyin: zhèng lù qiáo qián) were a type of Chinese token that originated in the city of Changzhou, Jiangsu from 1939 until 1941, these tokens were manufactured contemporary to other Chinese tokens and bamboo tallies in the same area as the Japanese invasion of China disrupted the local economy forcing locals to start issuing their own currencies in the form of exonumia. Zheng Lu Bridge tokens were issued by a variety of local stores and others and had a very limited region of circulation. These tokens were issued due to various factors including a lack of small value currency, the profitability of accepting old Chinese copper coins to be exchanged for new local tokens, as well as the lack of confidence in the currencies issued by Japanese puppet banks. Zheng Lu Bridge tokens typically contain an image of the Zheng Lu Bridge which was a bridge built during the Ming dynasty in Changzhou where at one side of the bridge a lot of people had the surname Zheng and on the other side Lu and a man with the surname Zheng and a woman with the surname Lu fell in love with each other and as the family wished to arrange a wedding for them during the spring festival they had recommended against using a ferry so as both clans were affluent enough to pay for a bridge and the bridge was finished the day prior to their wedding, because of this association with love some Zheng Lu Bridge tokens contain images of hearts, and usually contained inscriptions indicating where these tokens were intended to circulate such as zhèng lù qiáo liú tōng (鄭陸橋流通, “Circulates in Zheng Lu Bridge”).[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Chinese Tokens – 中國代用幣。". Gary Ashkenazy / גארי אשכנזי (Primaltrek – a journey through Chinese culture). 16 November 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  2. ↑ "Chop Mark – A Numismatic Definition". By James Bucki (for The SpruceCrafts). Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  3. ↑ "So What are Chop Marks? Chop Marks are found primarily on American Silver Trade Dollars dated 1873–1878 and Japanese Yen (1870–1914) that circulated in China. Chinese businessmen, ever watchful for fakes, placed their sign or "chop" on any of these trade coins that passed muster". Joseph Gale for Chopmarks, the blog. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 11 May 2018. External link in |work= (help)
  4. ↑ Anything Anywhere CHINA, 19th century tokens from Jiangsu. In Jiangsu province a habit began in the mid-late 19th century of making tokens. It turns out that there are numerous varieties. They look sort of amuletic, but on one side they announce that they are worth something. I have not yet found a written reference to these things. Someone find me something? Any language OK by Bob Reis. Retrieved: 11 May 2018.
  5. ↑ Anything Anywhere CHINA, tokens – There is a rather large series of non-government local monetary issues in China from ancient times. When the cast issues ended early in the 20th century struck tokens came into use in various places. – There are also tokens in exotic materials like bone, wood, plastic, etc. – And of course there's paper, but that's another story by Bob Reis. Retrieved: 11 May 2018.
  6. ↑ Academia.edu Local bronze tokens issued in Jiangsu, China, in the 1930s. Uploaded by Helen Wang. Retrieved: 11 May 2018.
  7. ↑ "Zheng Lu Bridge Tokens". Gary Ashkenazy / גארי אשכנזי (Primaltrek – a journey through Chinese culture). 17 December 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
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