149

THE  CURRENCY
By  this  scheme  of  notation  28  silver  [i.e.  silver  for  the
quality  of  which  is  added  2  8  per  shoe,  or  $'6  per  100)
represents  silver  1,000  fine,  2*7  silver  is  998  fine,  2  4  silver  is
992  fine,  or  thereabouts.
In  Western  countries  the  standard  of  1,000  represents
silver  chemically  pure,  with  no  admixture  of  gold  or  of
copper  and  lead.  American  quotations  of  bar  silver  are
reduced  to  a  basis  of  998,  and  British  quotations  to  a  basis
of  925  of  this  standard.  In  China  the  standard  of  1,000
seems  to  refer  to  a  silver  commercially  pure,  as  shown  by
the  crude  methods  of  the  touchstone  or  of  crucible  assaying.
This  is  the  standard  of  Kuping  ;  it  is  the  standard  to
which  are  referred  all  local  millième  standards,  and  in  the
Shanghai  notation  it  is  2  8  silver.  Even  at  Shanghai,
however,  super-pure  silver  is  known  in  Chinese  circles,
and  in  the  make-up  of  the  Haikwan  tael  the  requisite
quality  of  silver  is  rated,  not  at  2  8  as  for  the  “  pure  silver  "
of  the  Kuping  tael,  but  at  3  084  {i.e.  at  6  168  per  100  taels)
to  represent  a  higher  degree  of  purity.  Even  this,  however,
does  not  graphically  represent  a  quality  of  silver  corresponding ­
  to  what  is  called  1,000  fine  in  Western  countries.
It  has  been  ascertained  in  transactions  in  foreign  bar  silver
that  “  pure  silver  ”  of  the  Kuping  tael  touch  is  actually
987  fine  when  reduced  to  the  Western  standard  of  chemically
pure  silver  ;  and  on  this  basis  silver  of  the  Haikwan  tael
touch  recognised  at  Shanghai  is  actually  992  3  fine.
Working  on  these  figures  it  will  be  found  that  the  Shanghai ­
  tael  contains  525  grains  of  silver  of  the  Kuping  tael
touch,  5 22 i  grains  of  silver  of  the  Haikwan  tael  touch,
and  about  $18^  grains  of  silver  of  the  Western  standard
1,000  fine.
I  shall  have  more  to  say  on  the  definition  of  the  quality
of  silver  when  I  come  to  treat  of  the  Shanghai  tael.
The  Tael
It  is  not  always  possible  to  keep  them  apart  in  writing,
but  in  reading  it  is  necessary  always  to  bear  in  mind  the
distinction  between  the  tael  of  value  and  the  tael  of  weight.