In ancient times, silver was one of the most important currencies.
However, if this silver is placed in the modern era, it will be a very precious antique.
But silver is hardly visible in the folk, and even some ancient silverware is rare. Why? Where did all that silver go? Archaeologists speak the answer.
Why has so much silver disappeared in ancient times? Archaeologists give the answer!
First, the gap between exaggeration and truth in movies and TV series
Ancient Chinese forging technology tended to mature, including the processing of silver.
But in fact, silver is not as clean and neat as we see in movies and TV series.
With the exception of some official silverware, most folk loose silver does not look very good.
And because the people at that time often used their teeth to judge the authenticity of silverware, the real silver was covered with tooth marks, which was very ugly.
On the other hand, the ancient silver trade was exaggerated by film and television dramas. A casual meal in movies and TV series can get a few pieces of silver.
In fact, those few pieces of silver can sometimes buy a small storefront, and when they are usually used for trading, most of them are copper plates that we can see now.
The average daily wage of the ancients was only about 100 yuan, and one or two pieces of silver could be exchanged for about 1,000 yuan.
Therefore, in daily transactions, silver is usually not used such a large "denomination".
Most of this will be stored in the form of cash at home, and some ordinary people's silver will even be hidden in furnaces.
However, the class of ancient society was obvious, and the gap between rich and poor was very large, so there were not many private owners of silver, but it did not mean that silver was not circulated throughout the country.
A lot of silver was kept in the homes of nobles and gentry, so where did those white objects go?
Silver currently falls into the category of antiques, so archaeologists need to be invited to give the answers we want.
Archaeologists have pointed out that the large amount of silver in the market is indeed rare, and most of the sources of silver have been preserved by merchants or officials after generations of efforts.
Second, the main reasons why we can hardly see silver at present are as follows:
Funeral
Burial was a very popular way in ancient times, bringing silver and jewelry that they had preserved during their lifetimes to the grave.
It is hoped that these items, which were owned during their lifetime, will still be owned by them after they die, also because the ancients were influenced by traditional feudal superstitions.
It is said that when Empress Dowager Cixi was buried, pearls, agate and other utensils were not counted, and the small jewelry that filled the gap in the coffin was worth millions of taels of silver, and there were only 70 million taels in the treasury at the end of the Qing Dynasty.
It can be seen that she brought most of the country's silver and treasure into her grave.
Not only that, Cixi also has a very heavy selfish heart.
In fact, the silver of the late Qing Dynasty did not reach the point of being overwhelmed.
However, due to her small hobbies, luxuries, and love of silverware, a large amount of silver was melted by her and made into gold and silver jewelry, so part of the reason for the disappearance of silver should be related to Empress Dowager Cixi.
Not only Cixi, but also the emperors, princes, and nobles of all chinese dynasties wasted a lot of silver when they were buried.
In this way, there are more than 300 emperors in China, and more than half of the silver has to be buried with them.
Unless some silverware was excavated under the influence of archaeological excavations and folk tomb robbery, there should be many silverware buried in the ground and unknown.
In the late Qing Dynasty, a large amount of silver losses caused by compensation for land acquisition
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, a large amount of silver was lost overseas due to land reparations and could not be recovered. Foreign countries do not value ancient silver, and most of the silver is melted after receiving compensation.
According to incomplete statistics, the Qing government at the end of the Qing Dynasty lost a total of 1.3 billion taels of silver.
During the Republic of China, the price of silver rose, and many banks used silver dollars as a common currency.
However, due to the excessive rise in silver prices, china's economy, which had been slightly moderated, once again fell into depression.
A large amount of Chinese silver in the form of silver dollars has once again followed the old path and has been lost overseas.
So much silver not only had a huge impact on society, but also on China's silver culture.
Since then, in order to issue currency, the United States has purchased silver cheaply from many countries, including China, making China's silver market worse, and eventually leading to the gradual withdrawal of silver from China's trade history.
To prevent the outflow of silver as an excuse
Under the pretext of preventing the outflow of silver, Chiang Kai-shek once wantonly recycled ancient silver and silverware. Immediately after the defeat in the Liberation War, he shipped a large amount of silver to Taiwan. In this way, China's last silver of archaeological value was taken away by Chiang Kai-shek.
Lack of silver metal resources
You know, China has used silver for thousands of years, resources are limited, and continuous mining has made silver a rare metal. In fact, by the time of the Qing Dynasty, there were no more silver mines to mine, so the more silver was later in history, the higher its value.
Large-scale recycling after the founding of New China
After the founding of New China, a large amount of silver was recovered, and the last bit of silver in the folk no longer existed.
After the founding of New China, the historical value of silver was not developed.
Most of them melted in furnaces for the development of industrial infrastructure, which is more or less the last contribution of silver to China's construction.
Serve the public in another way
Although the ancient currency silver has quietly left our field of vision, if we look closely, it is actually serving the masses in another way.
For example, electronic devices such as mobile phones and computers in the hands of modern people need to add silver parts as conductive materials to work properly.
In terms of medical treatment, medical equipment products such as X-ray machines also need a lot of silver.
Even the silver nitrate used in our commonly used eye drops is a compound extracted from silver. Therefore, the non-circulation of silver does not mean that it has completely disappeared.
Silver metal is more widely used than goldware, and production is declining day by day.
If it's still being used to make money, that's going to be an infuriating thing.
Now, silver has fallen into the investment category and is loved by the public in the market.
Due to various demands, the value of silver did not decline, but had an upward trend.
As long as the public maintains its love of silver, silver will not depreciate.