126  THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE
struggle  between  the  mints  and  the  illegal  melter  dowh
of  too-full-weight  coins,  and  that,  to  keep  the  curren
from  the  melting  crucible,  the  mints  were  driven  to  re  u  ^
the  intrinsic  value  more  and  more.  Whatever  the  cause,
coinage  became  by  degrees  smaller  and  lighter,  issues  a
beginning  of  the  reign  having  a  diameter  of  i' 10  hic  r  un
weighing  y^¡j  tael,  while  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  cen  ury
official  issues  (no  account  being  taken  of  illicit  coining,  s
common  in  China)  were  so  small  as  o'8$  or  even  o  80  me  ,
and  weighed  no  more  than  tael.  A  memorialist  jus
a  century  ago  reported  to  the  Throne  that,  of  the  coins  1^
common  circulation,  from  i  to  2  per  cent,  weighed  Too  a
and  over,  while  30  to  40  per  cent,  weighed  the  full  legal  y  0  ae  '
The  coins  of  the  period  Kiaking  (a.d.  1796-1820)  were  o
light  weight,  but  ordinarily  were  still  well  minted  ,  it  1S  11
the  following  reign,  Taokwang  (a.d.  1821-185°)  &gt;  that
rough  crude  issues  of  the  mints,  which  we  see  to-day,  ma  e
their  first  appearance  ;  and  the  present  tendency  we  sec  in  a
memorial  from  the  Governor-General  of  Shengking,  ae
November  1899,  m  which  he  reports  to  the  Throne  t  a
coins  weighing  y-jy^  tael,  such  as  were  issued  in  other  provinces,
involve  a  loss,  and  that  he  is  therefore  minting  them  a
Too  tael  weight.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  there  will  be  no  pro  r
from  melting  down  such  coins,  and  that  the  illicit  issues  o
counterfeiters  will  not  be  much  less  attractive  in  appearance
or  appreciably  less  in  value.
Token  Coinage
In  the  reign  of  Hienfeng  (a.d.  1851-1861)  the  govern
ment  fell  on  troubled  times,  with  revenues  reduced  y
wide-spread  rebellion  ;  and,  partly  from  this  cause,  partly
because  it  was  unable  to  get  supplies  of  copper,  recourse
was  had  to  issues  of  token  coins.  This  depreciated  money
was  issued  in  two  forms—iron  coins  having  the  same
dimensions  and  face  value  as  the  ordinary  copper  currency,
and  copper  token  coins  in  multiples  of  the  ordinary  cash.
The  iron  coins  had  a  temporary  success,  but  within  four
years,  in  February  1857,  there  was  a  popular  rising  against
them,  and  in  a  day  they  lost  their  currency.