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THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE

recent  years  been  devoted  to  the  issue  of  subsidiary  coinage.
First  io-cent  and  20-cent  pieces,  which,  consisting  of  silver
800  fine,  while  the  dollar  was  900  fine,  could  be  sold  from  the
mint  at  no  cents  for  the  dollar  and  still  show  a  profit  ,  these
pieces  became  popular  with  the  smaller  money-changers
because  of  the  margin  between  the  rate  of  issue  and  the
intrinsic  value,  and  because  of  the  petty  speculation  permitted ­
  by  the  margin  of  value.  Then  followed  the  copper
cent  which  is  now  the  popular  coin,  since  it  has  an  exchange
value  greater  than  the  hundredth  part  of  a  dollar,  and  the
money-changer,  who  makes  his  profit  from  the  depreciate
silver  coinage,  will  make  it  also  from  appreciated  copper
coin.  The  tourist  who  draws  on  his  letter  of  credit  at  a
foreign  bank  in  Shanghai,  having  to  receive  so  many  dollars
and  so  many  (say  74)  cents,  for  the  odd  cents  will  be  given  70
cents  in  depreciated  silver,  but  for  the  4  cents  he  will  receive
3  copper  cents  and  2  copper  cash,  since  by  the  exchange
of  the  day  32  cash  are  the  equivalent  of  four-hundredths  o
a  dollar.  I  leave  the  last  two  sentences  as  they  were  written
in  1905,  in  order  to  show  how  great  has  been  the  depreciation
in  this  coin  within  twelve  months.  Now  (July  19°^)  ^  e
tourist  will  still  receive  his  70  cents  in  depreciated  silver,
but  for  the  4  cents  he  will  no  longer  be  given  3  copper
cents  and  2  cash,  but  will  receive  4  copper  cents—actually
worth  $0-0357.
General  Considerations
In  China  the  currency  is  at  the  top  a  weight  pure  and
simple,  in  the  middle  a  combination  of  weight  and  token
currency,  and  at  the  bottom  a  coin  which  stands  on  its  own
feet,  and  neither  receives  support  from  nor  absolutely  gives  it
to  any  other  unit  in  the  series.  At  the  top  is  the  tael  (call  it
the  ounce,  and  it  will  be  better  realised),  in  which  payments
are  made  in  precisely  the  same  way  that  delivery  is  taken  of  a
lot  of  silver  bars.  Then  comes  the  dollar,  which,  though  a
com,  is  nowhere  legal  tender,  and  of  which  the  specimens
10m  the  Chinese  mints  are  inscribed,  not  generally  dollai
01  yuen,  but  merely  72  hundredths  of  a  tael  ;  though  s(