От Сибиряк
К Паршев
Дата 10.01.2007 14:14:47
Рубрики 11-19 век;

Re: Ну Вас...

>серебра ещё меньше?
>Чушь это, про "порчу монеты", отрыжка диких представлений историков об экономике.

если за дирхем выдается посеребренная медяшка, то это все-таки порча и обман. А медные деньги и монголы широко выпускали, но за серебро их не выдавали и использовались такие монеты при местных расчетах в масштабах отдельного города. А в Иране, кстати, монголы даже с бумажными деньгами экспериментировали, используя китайский опыт.
От Паршев
К Сибиряк (10.01.2007 14:14:47)
Дата 10.01.2007 17:59:53

Я с Вас, Сибиряк, просто балдю.

>если за дирхем выдается посеребренная медяшка, то это все-таки порча и обман.


Есть такая деньга - "фунт стерлингов". Знаете, что это такое? Это "фунт серебра". А сходите в обменник и купите его - и Вам дадут бумажку. Вы что, закричите "порча и обман"? Монетами попросите, если сильно попросите - дадут. Но тоже счастья не будет, уверяю.

Нет, ну просто кино и немцы :)))
От Сибиряк
К Паршев (10.01.2007 17:59:53)
Дата 12.01.2007 13:48:20

нет-нет, балдеть с меня не надо,

а то ведь люди могут ТАКОЕ подумать! :)

>Есть такая деньга - "фунт стерлингов". Знаете, что это такое? Это "фунт серебра". А сходите в обменник и купите его - и Вам дадут бумажку. Вы что, закричите "порча и обман"? Монетами попросите, если сильно попросите - дадут. Но тоже счастья не будет, уверяю.

ой-ё-ёй, вы серьезно полагаете, что и в 13-м веке все также функционировало?
От Chestnut
К Паршев (10.01.2007 17:59:53)
Дата 10.01.2007 18:16:02

Re: Я с...

>Есть такая деньга - "фунт стерлингов". Знаете, что это такое? Это "фунт серебра". А сходите в обменник и купите его - и Вам дадут бумажку.

Ага, на заборе написано известно что, а за азбором дрова лежат. Рубль тоже -- полгривны, которая ЕМНИП равна марке, которая ЕМНИП (лень проверять) четверть фунта серебра. И много вам серебра Банк России отсыпет, если Вы с рублёвой бумашкой к ним придёте?

"Бій відлунав. Жовто-сині знамена затріпотіли на станції знов"
От Colder
К Chestnut (10.01.2007 18:16:02)
Дата 11.01.2007 07:51:34

Странно

>Ага, на заборе написано известно что, а за азбором дрова лежат. Рубль тоже -- полгривны, которая ЕМНИП равна марке, которая ЕМНИП (лень проверять) четверть фунта серебра. И много вам серебра Банк России отсыпет, если Вы с рублёвой бумашкой к ним придёте?

Так именно об этом Паршев и пытается втолковать собеседнику :)
От tsa
К Паршев (10.01.2007 17:59:53)
Дата 10.01.2007 18:05:36

Зря возмущаетесь.

Здравствуйте !

Порчу монеты как причину инфляции, можно отлично проследить например на материале Филиппа IV Красивого.
Как к таким вещам относились подданые, можно глянть хоть на примере медного бунта 1662 г в Москве, и что характерно, событиям последовавшим за ним.

С уважением, tsa.
От Паршев
К tsa (10.01.2007 18:05:36)
Дата 10.01.2007 18:18:56

У нас это называлось "бауманцы о физике".

>Порчу монеты как причину инфляции, можно отлично проследить например на материале Филиппа IV Красивого.
>Как к таким вещам относились подданые, можно глянть хоть на примере медного бунта 1662 г в Москве, и

порча монеты и инфляция - это, как Маркс и Энгельс - не одно и то же и даже не муж и жена. Если серебряный рубль заменяется бумажным (или свинцовой биркой с клеймом), но купить на него можно столько же - то это, если хотите, порча монеты, но не инфляция.
А вот если три года назад тёлка на ночь стоила стольник, а сейчас тысячу - то это инфляция.
Я внятно излагаю?
И не надо думать, что золотая валюта гарантирует от инфляции - и такое в истории случалось.
От Chestnut
К Паршев (10.01.2007 18:18:56)
Дата 10.01.2007 18:40:17

вот именно

Вы совершаете ошибку, непостительную для человека, позиционирующего себя как типо экономиста. Вот "марксистское" определение денег из БСЭ: "Деньги,
особый товар, всеобщий эквивалент (равностоимость) или всеобщая эквивалентная форма стоимости всех др. товаров. Специфическое свойство денежного товара - выражать стоимость любого др. товара, служить всеобщим орудием обмена." И далее: "Возможность замены денежного товара символами стоимости (неполноценными монетами и бумажными Д.) вытекает из функции Д. как средства обращения. Но денежные знаки имеют законную платёжную силу только внутри отдельных государств." Вы абсолютизируете одну -- обменную -- функцию денег, забывая о том, что на протяжении почти всей истории человечества деньги имели внутренне присущую им стоимость. И порча денег как раз и заключается в том, что у монеты изымают часть её стоимости, но номинал (назначаемый государством) остаётся прежним. В принципе, это эквивалентно современному включению печатного станка (т к из изъятого, или чаще недовложенного драгметалла чеканились новые монеты, номинальная стоимость которых отличалась от (присутствующей в отличие от бумажных денег) реальной стоимости), и приводила к тем же прелестям инфляции.
От vergen
К Chestnut (10.01.2007 18:40:17)
Дата 11.01.2007 00:18:19

и ещё...

не стоит забывать, что деньгам должны верить люди. Ибо не всё определяется экономикой, кое-что и психологией, особенно массовой. И когда люди видят что деньги портят...
От Chestnut
К Chestnut (10.01.2007 18:40:17)
Дата 10.01.2007 19:28:43

цитата из не мужа и жены

"Товар, который функционирует в качестве меры стоимости, а поэтому также, непосредственно или через своих заместителей, и в качестве средства обращения, есть деньги" (Маркс К. и Энгельс Ф., Соч., 2 изд., т. 23, с. 140).

"Бій відлунав. Жовто-сині знамена затріпотіли на станції знов"
От tsa
К Паршев (10.01.2007 18:18:56)
Дата 10.01.2007 18:35:20

Неверно.

Здравствуйте !

>порча монеты и инфляция - это, как Маркс и Энгельс - не одно и то же

Одно - обязательное следствие другого. Когда в 1655 году в связи с дефицитом серебра Алексей Михайлович затеял чеканить медные копейки, это привело к тому, что в обращении они обесценились по сравнению с серебрянными (а принимать их требовали наравне) и в 1662 году всё кончилось бунтом, через год после которого чеканка медных монет была прекращена.

Ровно та-же инфляция была следствием порчи монеты Филиппом Красивым.

Да чего спорить, хоть словарь нумезмата гляньте:
http://www.numizm.ru/html/p/por4a_monet3.html

С уважением, tsa.
От Мертник С.
К tsa (10.01.2007 18:35:20)
Дата 11.01.2007 08:26:55

Здрасти...

САС!!!
>Здравствуйте !

>Одно - обязательное следствие другого. Когда в 1655 году в связи с дефицитом серебра Алексей Михайлович затеял чеканить медные копейки, это привело к тому, что в обращении они обесценились по сравнению с серебрянными (а принимать их требовали наравне) и в 1662 году всё кончилось бунтом, через год после которого чеканка медных монет была прекращена.

>Ровно та-же инфляция была следствием порчи монеты Филиппом Красивым.

>Да чего спорить, хоть словарь нумезмата гляньте:

Ага. А как тогода объяснить те случаи, когда порчи монеты не было, а инфляция была приличной? Например случай с общим обесцениеванием драгметаллов (особенно серебра) в связи с эксплуатацией испанцами серебрянных рукдников в Ю. Америке?



>С уважением, tsa.
Мы вернемся
От Сибиряк
К Мертник С. (11.01.2007 08:26:55)
Дата 12.01.2007 13:57:15

Re: Здрасти...



>Например случай с общим обесцениеванием драгметаллов (особенно серебра) в связи с эксплуатацией испанцами серебрянных рукдников в Ю. Америке?

А это очень просто - добыча драгметаллов временно (!) стала не очень дорогим занятием. Во-первых, безвозмездно изымались запасы золота и серебра, накапливашиеся экономически неразвитыми туземцами в течение столетий. Во-вторых, на рудниках в Америке использовался практически бесплатный труд тех же туземцев. Поэтому и себестоимость драгметаллов, поступавших из Америки была невысока.
От Chestnut
К Мертник С. (11.01.2007 08:26:55)
Дата 11.01.2007 14:52:52

Re: Здрасти...

>САС!!!
>>Здравствуйте !
>
>>Одно - обязательное следствие другого. Когда в 1655 году в связи с дефицитом серебра Алексей Михайлович затеял чеканить медные копейки, это привело к тому, что в обращении они обесценились по сравнению с серебрянными (а принимать их требовали наравне) и в 1662 году всё кончилось бунтом, через год после которого чеканка медных монет была прекращена.
>
>>Ровно та-же инфляция была следствием порчи монеты Филиппом Красивым.
>
>>Да чего спорить, хоть словарь нумезмата гляньте:
>
>Ага. А как тогода объяснить те случаи, когда порчи монеты не было, а инфляция была приличной? Например случай с общим обесцениеванием драгметаллов (особенно серебра) в связи с эксплуатацией испанцами серебрянных рукдников в Ю. Америке?

Ну так "включили печатный станок" и наштамповали (на то же к-во товаров и услуг) монет из новодоступного серебра


"Бій відлунав. Жовто-сині знамена затріпотіли на станції знов"
От Никита
К Мертник С. (11.01.2007 08:26:55)
Дата 11.01.2007 10:53:53

Объяснение то же самое - избыток денежной массы, хоть в серебре, хоть в бумаге (-)
От tsa
К tsa (10.01.2007 18:05:36)
Дата 10.01.2007 18:11:00

А по облегчению монеты вспоминается новгородский "серебряный бунт". (-)
От tsa
К Сибиряк (10.01.2007 14:14:47)
Дата 10.01.2007 14:43:35

А ссылок по бумажным деньгам в Китае и у монголов не дадите? А то интересно. (-)
От Chestnut
К tsa (10.01.2007 14:43:35)
Дата 10.01.2007 15:19:28

Re: А ссылок...

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10636/10636-8.txt

The Travels of Marco Polo Volume 1
by Marco Polo and Rustichello of Pisa

CHAPTER XXIV.

HOW THE GREAT KAAN CAUSETH THE BARK OF TREES, MADE INTO SOMETHING LIKE
PAPER, TO PASS FOR MONEY OVER ALL HIS COUNTRY.


Now that I have told you in detail of the splendour of this City of the
Emperor's, I shall proceed to tell you of the Mint which he hath in the
same city, in the which he hath his money coined and struck, as I shall
relate to you. And in doing so I shall make manifest to you how it is that
the Great Lord may well be able to accomplish even much more than I have
told you, or am going to tell you, in this Book. For, tell it how I might,
you never would be satisfied that I was keeping within truth and reason!

The Emperor's Mint then is in this same City of Cambaluc, and the way it
is wrought is such that you might say he hath the Secret of Alchemy in
perfection, and you would be right! For he makes his money after this
fashion.

He makes them take of the bark of a certain tree, in fact of the Mulberry
Tree, the leaves of which are the food of the silkworms,--these trees
being so numerous that whole districts are full of them. What they take is
a certain fine white bast or skin which lies between the wood of the tree
and the thick outer bark, and this they make into something resembling
sheets of paper, but black. When these sheets have been prepared they are
cut up into pieces of different sizes. The smallest of these sizes is
worth a half tornesel; the next, a little larger, one tornesel; one, a
little larger still, is worth half a silver groat of Venice; another a
whole groat; others yet two groats, five groats, and ten groats. There is
also a kind worth one Bezant of gold, and others of three Bezants, and so
up to ten. All these pieces of paper are [issued with as much solemnity
and authority as if they were of pure gold or silver; and on every piece a
variety of officials, whose duty it is, have to write their names, and to
put their seals. And when all is prepared duly, the chief officer deputed
by the Kaan smears the Seal entrusted to him with vermilion, and impresses
it on the paper, so that the form of the Seal remains printed upon it in
red; the Money is then authentic. Any one forging it would be punished
with death.] And the Kaan causes every year to be made such a vast
quantity of this money, which costs him nothing, that it must equal in
amount all the treasure in the world.

With these pieces of paper, made as I have described, he causes all
payments on his own account to be made; and he makes them to pass current
universally over all his kingdoms and provinces and territories, and
whithersoever his power and sovereignty extends. And nobody, however
important he may think himself, dares to refuse them on pain of death. And
indeed everybody takes them readily, for wheresoever a person may go
throughout the Great Kaan's dominions he shall find these pieces of paper
current, and shall be able to transact all sales and purchases of goods by
means of them just as well as if they were coins of pure gold. And all the
while they are so light that ten bezants' worth does not weigh one golden
bezant.

Furthermore all merchants arriving from India or other countries, and
bringing with them gold or silver or gems and pearls, are prohibited from
selling to any one but the Emperor. He has twelve experts chosen for this
business, men of shrewdness and experience in such affairs; these appraise
the articles, and the Emperor then pays a liberal price for them in those
pieces of paper. The merchants accept his price readily, for in the first
place they would not get so good an one from anybody else, and secondly
they are paid without any delay. And with this paper-money they can buy
what they like anywhere over the Empire, whilst it is also vastly lighter
to carry about on their journeys. And it is a truth that the merchants
will several times in the year bring wares to the amount of 400,000
bezants, and the Grand Sire pays for all in that paper. So he buys such a
quantity of those precious things every year that his treasure is endless,
whilst all the time the money he pays away costs him nothing at all.
Moreover, several times in the year proclamation is made through the city
that any one who may have gold or silver or gems or pearls, by taking them
to the Mint shall get a handsome price for them. And the owners are glad
to do this, because they would find no other purchaser give so large a
price. Thus the quantity they bring in is marvellous, though these who do
not choose to do so may let it alone. Still, in this way, nearly all the
valuables in the country come into the Kaan's possession.

When any of those pieces of paper are spoilt--not that they are so very
flimsy neither--the owner carries them to the Mint, and by paying three
per cent, on the value he gets new pieces in exchange. And if any Baron,
or any one else soever, hath need of gold or silver or gems or pearls, in
order to make plate, or girdles, or the like, he goes to the Mint and buys
as much as he list, paying in this paper-money.[NOTE 1]

Now you have heard the ways and means whereby the Great Kaan may have, and
in fact _has_, more treasure than all the Kings in the World; and you know
all about it and the reason why. And now I will tell you of the great
Dignitaries which act in this city on behalf of the Emperor.


NOTE 1.--It is surprising to find that, nearly two centuries ago,
Magaillans, a missionary who had lived many years in China, and was
presumably a Chinese scholar, should have utterly denied the truth of
Polo's statements about the paper-currency of China. Yet the fact even
then did not rest on Polo's statement only. The same thing had been
alleged in the printed works of Rubruquis, Roger Bacon, Hayton, Friar
Odoric, the Archbishop of Soltania, and Josaphat Barbaro, to say nothing
of other European authorities that remained in manuscript, or of the
numerous Oriental records of the same circumstance.

The issue of paper-money in China is at least as old as the beginning of
the 9th century. In 1160 the system had gone to such excess that
government paper equivalent in nominal value to 43,600,000 ounces of
silver had been issued in six years, and there were local notes besides;
so that the Empire was flooded with rapidly depreciating paper.

The _Kin_ or "Golden" Dynasty of Northern Invaders who immediately
preceded the Mongols took to paper, in spite of their title, as kindly as
the native sovereigns. Their notes had a course of seven years, after
which new notes were issued to the holders, with a deduction of 15 per
cent.

The Mongols commenced their issues of paper-money in 1236, long before
they had transferred the seat of their government to China. Kúblái made
such an issue in the first year of his reign (1260), and continued to
issue notes copiously till the end. In 1287 he put out a complete new
currency, one note of which was to exchange against _five_ of the previous
series of equal nominal value! In both issues the paper-money was, in
official valuation, only equivalent to half its nominal value in silver; a
circumstance not very easy to understand. The paper-money was called
_Chao_.

The notes of Kúblái's first issue (1260-1287) with which Polo maybe
supposed most familiar, were divided into three classes; (1) _Notes of
Tens_, viz. of 10, 20, 30, and 50 _tsien_ or cash; (2) _Notes of
Hundreds_, viz. of 100, 200, and 500 _tsien_; and (3) _Notes of Strings_
or _Thousands_ of cash, or in other words of _Liangs_ or ounces of silver
(otherwise _Tael_), viz. of 1000 and 2000 _tsien_. There were also notes
printed on silk for 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10 ounces each, valued at par in
silver, but these would not circulate. In 1275, it should be mentioned,
there had been a supplementary issue of small notes for 2, 3, and 5 cash
each.

Marsden states an equation between Marco's values of the Notes and the
actual Chinese currency, to which Biot seems to assent. I doubt its
correctness, for his assumed values of the groat or _grosso_ and tornesel
are surely wrong. The grosso ran at that time 18 to the gold ducat or
sequin, and allowing for the then higher relative value of silver, should
have contained about 5_d._ of silver. The ducat was also equivalent to 2
_lire_, and the _tornese_ (Romanin, III. 343) was 4 deniers. Now the
denier is always, I believe 1/240 of the _lira_. Hence the _tornese_ would
be 9/60 of the _grosso_.

But we are not to look for _exact_ correspondences, when we see Polo
applying round figures in European coinage to Chinese currency.

[Illustration: Bank-Note of the Ming Dynasty]

His bezant notes, I agree with Marsden, here represent the Chinese notes
for one and more ounces of silver. And here the correspondence of value is
much nearer than it seems at first sight. The Chinese _liang_ or ounce of
silver is valued commonly at 6_s._ 7_d._, say roundly 80_d._[1] But the
relation of gold and silver in civilized Asia was then (see ch. I. note 4,
and also _Cathay_, pp. ccl. and 442) as 10 to 1, not, as with us now, more
than 15 to 1. Wherefore the _liang_ in relation to gold would be worth
120_d._ or 10_s._, a little over the Venetian ducat and somewhat less than
the bezant or dínár. We shall then find the table of Chinese issues, as
compared with Marco's equivalents, to stand thus:--

CHINESE ISSUES, AS RECORDED. MARCO POLO'S STATEMENT.

For 10 ounces of silver (viz. }
the Chinese _Ting_)[2] } 10 bezants.

For 1 ounce of silver, i.e. 1 _liang_, }
or 1000 _tsien_ (cash) } 1 "

For 500 _tsien_ . . . . . . 10 groats.
200 " . . . . . . . 5 " (should have been 4).
100 " . . . . . . . 2 "
50 " . . . . . . . 1 "
30 " . . . . . . . 1/2 " (but the
proportionate
equivalent of half a groat
would be 25 _tsien_).
20 " . . . . . . .
10 " . . . . . . . 1 tornesel (but the
proportionate equivalent
would be 7-1/2 _tsien_).
5 " . . . . . . . 1/2 " (but prop. equivalent
3-3/4 _tsien_).

Pauthier has given from the Chinese Annals of the Mongol Dynasty a
complete Table of the Issues of Paper-Money during every year of Kúblái's
reign (1260-1294), estimated at their nominal value in _Ting_ or tens of
silver ounces. The lowest issue was in 1269, of 228,960 _ounces_, which at
the rate of 120_d._ to the ounce (see above) = 114,480_l._, and the
highest was in 1290, viz. 50,002,500 ounces, equivalent at the same
estimate to 25,001,250_l._! whilst the total amount in the 34 years was
249,654,290 ounces or 124,827,144_l._ in nominal value. Well might Marco
speak of the vast quantity of such notes that the Great Kaan issued
annually!

To complete the history of the Chinese paper-currency so far as we can:

In 1309, a new issue took place with the same provision as in Kúblái's
issue of 1287, i.e. each note of the new issue was to exchange against 5
of the old of the same nominal value. And it was at the same time
prescribed that the notes should exchange at par with metals, which of
course it was beyond the power of Government to enforce, and so the notes
were abandoned. Issues continued from time to time to the end of the
Mongol Dynasty. The paper-currency is spoken of by Odoric (1320-30), by
Pegolotti (1330-40), and by Ibn Batuta (1348), as still the chief, if not
sole, currency of the Empire. According to the Chinese authorities, the
credit of these issues was constantly diminishing, as it is easy to
suppose. But it is odd that all the Western Travellers speak as if the
notes were as good as gold. Pegolotti, writing for mercantile men, and
from the information (as we may suppose) of mercantile men, says
explicitly that there was no depreciation.

The Ming Dynasty for a time carried on the system of paper-money; with the
difference that while under the Mongols no other currency had been
admitted, their successors made payments in notes, but accepted only hard
cash from their people![3] In 1448 the _chao_ of 1000 cash was worth but
3. Barbaro still heard talk of the Chinese paper-currency from travellers
whom he met at Azov about this time; but after 1455 there is said to be no
more mention of it in Chinese history.

I have never heard of the preservation of any note of the Mongols; but
some of the Ming survive, and are highly valued as curiosities in China.
The late Sir G. T. Staunton appears to have possessed one; Dr. Lockhart
formerly had two, of which he gave one to Sir Harry Parkes, and retains
the other. The paper is so dark as to explain Marco's description of it as
black. By Dr. Lockhart's kindness I am enabled to give a reduced
representation of this note, as near a facsimile as we have been able to
render it, but with some _restoration_, e.g. of the _seals_, of which on
the original there is the barest indication remaining.

[Mr. Vissering (_Chinese Currency_, Addenda, I.-III.) gives a facsimile
and a description of a Chinese banknote of the Ming Dynasty belonging to
the collection of the Asiatic Museum of the Academy of Sciences at St.
Petersburg. "In the eighth year of the period _Hung-wu_ (1375), the
Emperor Tai-tsu issued an order to his minister of finances to make the
_Pao-tsao_ (precious bills) of the _Ta-Ming_ Dynasty, and to employ as raw
material for the composition of those bills the fibres of the mulberry
tree."--H. C.]

Notwithstanding the disuse of Government issues of paper-money from that
time till recent years, there had long been in some of the cities of China
a large use of private and local promissory notes as currency. In Fuchau
this was especially the case; bullion was almost entirely displaced, and
the banking-houses in that city were counted by hundreds. These were under
no government control; any individual or company having sufficient capital
or credit could establish a bank and issue their bills, which varied in
amount from 100 cash to 1000 dollars. Some fifteen years ago the Imperial
Government seems to have been induced by the exhausted state of the
Treasury, and these large examples of the local use of paper-currency, to
consider projects for resuming that system after the disuse of four
centuries. A curious report by a Committee of the Imperial Supreme
Council, on a project for such a currency, appears among the papers
published by the Russian Mission at Peking. It is unfavourable to the
particular project, but we gather from other sources that the Government
not long afterwards did open banks in the large cities of the Empire for
the issue of a new paper-currency, but that it met with bad success. At
Fuchau, in 1858, I learn from one notice, the dollar was worth from 18,000
to 20,000 cash in Government Bills. Dr. Rennie, in 1861, speaks of the
dollar at Peking as valued at 15,000, and later at 25,000 paper cash.
Sushun, the Regent, had issued a vast number of notes through banks of his
own in various parts of Peking. These he failed to redeem, causing the
failure of all the banks, and great consequent commotion in the city. The
Regent had led the Emperor [Hien Fung] systematically into debauched
habits which ended in paralysis. On the Emperor's death the Empress caused
the arrest and execution of Sushun. His conduct in connection with the
bank failures was so bitterly resented that when the poor wretch was led
to execution (8th November, 1861), as I learn from an eye-witness, the
defrauded creditors lined the streets and cheered.[4]

The Japanese also had a paper-currency in the 14th century. It is
different in form from that of China. That figured by Siebold is a strip
of strong paper doubled, 6-1/4 in. long by 1-3/4 in. wide, bearing a
representation of the tutelary god of riches, with long inscriptions in
Chinese characters, seals in black and red, and an indication of value in
ancient Japanese characters. I do not learn whether notes of considerable
amount are still used in Japan; but Sir R. Alcock speaks of banknotes for
small change from 30 to 500 cash and more, as in general use in the
interior.

Two notable and disastrous attempts to imitate the Chinese system of
currency took place in the Middle Ages; one of them in Persia, apparently
in Polo's very presence, the other in India some 36 years later.

The first was initiated in 1294 by the worthless Kaikhatu Khan, when his
own and his ministers' extravagance had emptied the Treasury, on the
suggestion of a financial officer called 'Izzuddín Muzaffar. The notes
were direct copies of Kúblái's, even the Chinese characters being imitated
as part of the device upon them.[5] The Chinese name _Chao_ was applied to
them, and the Mongol Resident at Tabriz, Pulad Chingsang, was consulted in
carrying out the measure. Expensive preparations were made for this
object; offices called _Cháo-Khánahs_ were erected in the principal cities
of the provinces, and a numerous staff appointed to carry out the details.
Ghazan Khan in Khorasan, however, would have none of it, and refused to
allow any of these preparations to be made within his government. After
the constrained use of the Chao for two or three days Tabriz was in an
uproar; the markets were closed; the people rose and murdered 'Izzuddín;
and the whole project had to be abandoned. Marco was in Persia at this
time, or just before, and Sir John Malcolm not unnaturally suggests that
he might have had something to do with the scheme; a suggestion which
excites a needless commotion in the breast of M. Pauthier. We may draw
from the story the somewhat notable conclusion that _Block-printing_ was
practised, at least for this one purpose, at Tabriz in 1294.

The other like enterprise was that of Sultan Mahomed Tughlak of Delhi, in
1330-31. This also was undertaken for like reasons, and was in professed
imitation of the Chao of Cathay. Mahomed, however, used copper tokens
instead of paper; the copper being made apparently of equal weight to the
gold or silver coin which it represented. The system seems to have had a
little more vogue than at Tabriz, but was speedily brought to an end by
the ease with which forgeries on an enormous scale were practised. The
Sultan, in hopes of reviving the credit of his currency, ordered that
every one bringing copper tokens to the Treasury should have them cashed
in gold or silver. "The people who in despair had flung aside their copper
coins like stones and bricks in their houses, all rushed to the Treasury
and exchanged them for gold and silver. In this way the Treasury soon
became empty, but the copper coins had as little circulation as ever, and
a very grievous blow was given to the State."

An odd issue of currency, not of paper, but of leather, took place in
Italy a few years before Polo's birth. The Emperor Frederic II., at the
siege of Faenza in 1241, being in great straits for money, issued pieces
of leather stamped with the mark of his mint at the value of his Golden
Augustals. This leather coinage was very popular, especially at Florence,
and it was afterwards honourably redeemed by Frederic's Treasury. Popular
tradition in Sicily reproaches William the Bad among his other sins with
having issued money of leather, but any stone is good enough to cast at a
dog with such a surname.

[Ma Twan-lin mentions that in the fourth year of the period Yuen Show
(B.C. 119), a currency of white metal and _deer-skin_ was made. Mr.
Vissering (_Chinese Currency_, 38) observes that the skin-tallies "were
purely tokens, and have had nothing in common with the leather-money,
which was, during a long time, current in Russia. This Russian skin-money
had a truly representative character, as the parcels were used instead of
the skins from which they were cut; the skins themselves being too bulky
and heavy to be constantly carried backward and forward, only a little
piece was cut off, to figure as a token of possession of the whole skin.
The ownership of the skin was proved when the piece fitted in the hole."

Mr. Rockhill (_Rubruck_, 201 note) says: "As early as B.C. 118, we find the
Chinese using 'leather-money' (_p'i pi_). These were pieces of white
deer-skin, a foot square, with a coloured border. Each had a value of
40,000 cash. (_Ma Twan-lin_, Bk. 8, 5.)"

Mr. Charles F. Keary (_Coins and Medals_, by S. Lane Poole, 128) mentions
that "in the reign of Elizabeth there was a very extensive issue of
private tokens in lead, tin, latten, and _leather_."--H. C.]

(_Klapr._ in _Mém. Rel. à l'Asie_, I. 375 seqq.; _Biot_, in _J. As._ sér.
III. tom. iv.; _Marsden_ and _Pauthier_, in loco; _Parkes_, in _J. R. A.
S._ XIII. 179; _Doolittle_, 452 seqq.; _Wylie, J. of Shanghai Lit. and
Scient. Soc._ No. I.; _Arbeiten der kais. russ. Gesandsch. zu Peking_, I.
p. 48; _Rennie, Peking_, etc., I. 296, 347; _Birch_, in. _Num. Chron._
XII. 169; Information from _Dr. Lockhart_; _Alcock_, II. 86; _D'Ohsson_,
IV. 53; _Cowell_, in _J. A. S. B._ XXIX. 183 seqq.; _Thomas, Coins of
Patan Sovs. of Hind._, (from _Numism. Chron._ 1852), p. 139 seqq.;
_Kington's Fred. II._ II. 195; _Amari_, III. 816; _W. Vissering, On
Chinese Currency_, Leiden, 1877.)

["Without doubt the Mongols borrowed the bank-note system from the Kin. Up
to the present time there is in Si-ngan-fu a block kept, which was used
for printing the bank-notes of the Kin Dynasty. I have had the opportunity
of seeing a print of those bank-notes, they were of the same size and
shape as the bank-notes of the Ming. A reproduction of the text of the Kin
bank-notes is found in the _Kin shi ts'ui pien_. This copy has the
characters _pao kilan_ (precious charter) and the years of reign _Chêng
Yew_, 1213-1216. The first essay of the Mongols to introduce bank-notes
dates from the time of Ogodai Khan (1229-1242), but Chinese history only
mentions the fact without giving details. At that time silk in skeins was
the only article of a determinate value in the trade and on the project of
_Ye lü ch'u ts'ai_, minister of Ogodai, the taxes were also collected in
silk delivered by weight. It can therefore be assumed that the name _sze
ch'ao_ (i.e. bank-notes referring to the weight of silk) dates back to the
same time. At any rate, at a later time, as, under the reign of Kubilai,
the issuing of banknotes was decreed, silk was taken as the standard to
express the value of silver and 1000 _liang_ silk was estimated = 50
_liang_ (or 1 _ting_) silver. Thus, in consequence of those measures, it
gradually became a rule to transfer the taxes and rents originally paid in
silk, into silver. The wealth of the Mongol Khans in precious metals was
renowned. The accounts regarding their revenues, however, which we meet
with occasionally in Chinese history, do not surprise by their vastness.
In the year 1298, for instance, the amount of the revenue is stated in the
_Siu t'ung Kien_ to have been:--

19,000 _liang_ of gold = (190,000 _liang_ of silver, according to the
exchange of that time at the rate of 1 to 10).

60,000 _liang_ of silver.

3,600,000 _ting_ of silver in bank-notes (i.e. 180 millions _liang_);
altogether 180,250,000 _liang_ of silver.

The number seems indeed very high for that time. But if the exceedingly
low exchange of the bank-notes be taken into consideration, the sum will
be reduced to a modest amount." (_Palladius_, pp. 50-51.)--H. C.]

[Dr. Bretschneider (_Hist. Bot. Disc._, I. p. 4) makes the following
remark:--"Polo states (I. 409) that the Great Kaan causeth the bark of
great Mulberry-trees, made into something like paper, to pass for money."
He seems to be mistaken. Paper in China is not made from mulberry-trees
but from the _Broussonetia papyrifera_, which latter tree belongs to the
same order of Moraceae. The same fibres are used also in some parts of
China for making cloth, and Marco Polo alludes probably to the same tree
when stating (II. 108) "that in the province of Cuiju (Kwei chau) they
manufacture stuff of the bark of certain trees, which form very fine
summer clothing."--H. C.]


[1] Even now there are at least eight different _taels_ (or liangs) in
extensive use over the Empire, and varying as much as from 96 to 106;
and besides these are many local _taels_, with about the same limits
of variation.--(_Williamson's Journeys_, I. 60.)

[2] [The Archimandrite Palladius (l.c., p. 50, note) says that "the _ting_
of the Mongol time, as well as during the reign of the Kin, was a unit
of weight equivalent to fifty _liang_, but not to ten _liang_. Cf.
_Ch'u keng lu_, and _Yuen-shi_, ch. xcv. The _Yuen pao_, which as
everybody in China knows, is equivalent to fifty _liang_ (taels) of
silver, is the same as the ancient _ting_, and the character _Yuen_
indicates that it dates from the _Yuen_ Dynasty."--H. C.]

[3] This is also, as regards Customs payments, the system of the
Government of modern Italy.

[4] The first edition of this work gave a facsimile of one of this unlucky
minister's notes.

[5] On both sides, however, was the Mahomedan formula, and beneath that
the words _Yiranjín Túrjí_, a title conferred on the kings of Persia
by the Kaan. There was also an inscription to the following effect:
that the Emperor in the year 693 (A.H.) had issued these auspicious
_chao_, that all who forged or uttered false notes should be summarily
punished, with their wives and children, and their property
confiscated; and that when these auspicious notes were once in
circulation, poverty would vanish, provisions become cheap, and rich
and poor be equal (_Cowell_). The use of the term _chao_ at Tabriz may
be compared with that of _Banklot_, current in modern India.


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