A common classic clip in film and television dramas is that the chivalrous guest sits in the inn and throws out a silver ingot and orders the shopkeeper to put a few pots of wine and small dishes on it. Such a dashing and cloudy picture makes many girls in front of the screen move. But the film and television drama inevitably with some exaggerated elements, real life must be silver is actually more valuable, the average person can not take it out at all, not to mention there is no actual work, all day on the rivers and lakes wandering chivalrous.
The circulation of silver in China was actually in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and most of the early people used the currency and copper coins of their own dynasties. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the trade between China and the West was strengthened, so there were many foreigners who came to China to trade at that time, and China's high-quality silk fabrics and tea, porcelain, etc. attracted foreign merchants to buy, but the Chinese and foreign currencies at that time were not unified, so most foreigners used silver.
However, the later Qing government implemented a policy of closing the country to the outside world, the Western powers knocked on the door of China with strong means, accompanied by a series of treaty ports opened with flowing reparations, and the silver saved in the early days was also sold out for repayment of the indemnity. So later the amount of silver on the market in China was seriously reduced, and during the reign of Yuan Shikai's Beiyang government, the currency of his own era was re-minted, which was a carefully designed silver dollar, and the front of the silver dollar was also printed with a portrait of Yuan Shikai, and people affectionately called these currencies "Yuan Datou".
However, the reign of the Beiyang government was very short, and Yuan Shikai was ambitious and bent on restoring and repeating the old path of the Qing government, which caused public indignation and led many people to stand up against him. After the Nationalist government came to power, it began to adopt a new currency, which is a kind of paper money, that is, the popular "legal tender" in the Republic of China period. So where did Yuan Datou go during the Beiyang government?
Compared with the paper money printed by lao Jiang, the value of "Yuan Datou" in Yuan Shikai's period is higher, because Yuan Datou is all made of silver, which not only has a high collection value, but also can be made into jewelry or re-sold after being re-dissolved and forged. At that time, there were also many foreign merchants who saw Yuan Shikai using silver to create currency, so they bought Yuan Datou in large quantities. The people who originally owned Yuan Datou later relied on these currencies to make a small profit.
After the founding of New China, the renminbi began to circulate throughout the country, the currency of the early years began to withdraw from the stage of history, and the paper money of the old Chiang Kai-shek period soon disappeared from the world because it had no practical value, but Yuan Datou was widely collected by the mainland government in the private sector. Many families still keep Yuan Datou as their heirlooms for generations, and many places will also use these things as dowries or bride price gifts to the future half of their children.