When it comes to silver, everyone's first impression must be the silver ingots of white flowers in costume dramas. Especially when it comes to bribery, several large boxes of silver are displayed under the camera, which is very beautiful and attractive.
In the impression, it seems that all costume dramas use silver as an ancient hard currency. In fact, silver has not been legal tender for a long time in ancient China. Even during the Song Dynasty, the mainstream currency officially recognized at the time was only Jiaozi (a paper currency) and round-hole copper coins.
Since silver was not the legal tender circulating in the market, what was its role at that time? Like gold, it was the basic reserve of the state, and was generally made into various ceremonial vessels to reward courtiers or collectors. Because it cannot be circulated, it naturally has no value. It is no wonder that Zhang Jun, a famous general of the Southern Song Dynasty, once made a large silver ball out of silver, named "Helpless" specifically for flirting with thieves.
Silver could not become money earlier, mainly because of rarity. Until the 8th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, that is, in 1529. With the discovery of the New World by Europeans, several large silver mines in the Americas were mined, and a large amount of silver flowed into China along the Silk Road, and silver finally began to become legal tender.
Like gold, at that time, China's officials liked to make silver into the shape of a yuan treasure, called silver ingots. This silver would be stamped with the official seal, then stored in the national treasury, and it was not very circulated in the market. Most of the silver on the market is some broken silver, because one or two silver denominations in ancient times are very large, and the huge silver ingots are obviously inferior to broken silver in terms of circulation.
Therefore, the silver ingots of white flowers in costume dramas were usually difficult to see in ancient folklore. And broken silver is naturally not beautiful, and even the ancients used their teeth to bite in order to test the authenticity. Generally silver has a soft texture, but if it is true, it will leave tooth marks. Therefore, the silver handed down in reality and the TV series are completely different things.
In addition to tooth marks, ancient silver was not the color of white flowers. Due to the restrictions of smelting conditions, ancient silver generally contained a lot of impurities. Sterling silver is indeed an inactive metal, not easy to react with oxygen, but more impurities are not necessarily necessary. With the passage of a hundred years, these silvers have basically undergone different degrees of oxidation, and it is normal to have a little blackening.
Coupled with the mud that has accumulated over the years, the silver of ancient times is much uglier than we think. It is no wonder that archaeologists admit that even if ancient silver falls on the ground today, you will not think of picking it up.
But it is undeniable that such a black thing that does not slip away is indeed valuable in ancient times. In ancient times, one or two pieces of silver could be exchanged for at least 100 catties of rice, satisfying the annual rations of a family of five. According to this purchasing power calculation, it is worth more than 1500 yuan today. This is also why the ancients liked to use broken silver, and the denomination of silver ingots was too large to eat in the market.
However, in modern times, something so valuable in China has been lost hundreds of millions of taels through unequal treaties, almost consuming the entire Treasury of the Qing court. Today, few ancient silver ingots in our country have survived, and most of them have flowed overseas and become the national reserves of western powers.
As for the broken silver of our people, after the founding of the Republic of China, silver was abolished as a legal tender and replaced by banknotes. As a result, some of these pieces of silver were melted into jewelry, and some were directly pawned and no longer existed. Although ancient silver was covered with tooth marks and dirt, it was not beautiful. But it is quite difficult for people to see it today.