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Text | Li Jinrui
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introduction
When it comes to "Dayang", I believe that many people are familiar with it, which is a currency that was relatively widely circulated in the mainland in the early years of the last century, and its official name is "silver dollar".
As the name suggests, its material must be mainly silver, plus some other small amounts of metal fusion manufacturing, in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China period most popular.
However, at that time, the situation was turbulent, the regime changed, and there was not only one type of silver dollar issued. Especially in the Republican period, the silver dollars in circulation were more diverse, and there were even "cottage versions",
So how many main types of silver dollars were there at that time? Moreover, people are curious about how much RMB is equivalent to an ocean during the Republic of China?
(Ocean)
First, the origin and development of the "ocean"
The silver dollar is not an original currency of the mainland, but flows into China from the West. Silver dollars have been manufactured since the 15th century and are gradually gaining widespread use in Europe.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, China's doors were forcibly opened, and the silver dollar, as a Western currency, naturally flowed into China.
(Republic of China Ten Bronze Dollar)
At first, the people of the late Qing Dynasty still had a certain rejection of silver dollars, but because about 90% of the silver dollar itself was silver.
Its own value cannot be underestimated, coupled with the fact that the mainland has always used silver ingots or silver bullions as circulation currency in ancient times, and people still have a deep obsession with silver, so silver dollars have been gradually accepted by people.
At the same time, because the silver dollar is a foreign product and brought to China by foreigners, it is also called "Dayang" or "Yangyuan" and "Current Dayang" and so on.
By 1890, the Qing government also chose to recognize the existence and circulation of silver dollars, after all, at this time silver dollars had flowed into China in large quantities, seriously affecting the social and economic order of China at that time.
(Yunnan Double Flag Semicircle)
In addition, the silver dollar as a currency also has certain benefits, such as it can replace silver ingots and copper coins. Moreover, the silver dollar is smaller in size, easy for people to carry, and the appearance is relatively closer to the modern form of money.
So after that, the Qing government also began to mint silver dollars belonging to its own country. By the Republican period, the silver standard was created, and the era of silver dollars as a circulating currency was officially on the right track.
However, the types of silver dollars in this period are more diverse, because there are types of silver dollars issued during the Qing Dynasty, and then there are silver dollars issued by the Republic of China government itself, and silver dollars from other Western countries. Although the silver dollar was recognized by the public during this period, there was confusion.
(Credits)
Second, the diversification of ocean species during the Republican period
So how many types of silver dollars were there during the Republic of China? First of all, let's take a look at what silver dollars were before the Republic of China.
After 1890, the Qing government, at the suggestion of a number of officials, began to mint silver dollars belonging to the mainland, because the pattern on the silver dollar is China's unique symbol "dragon", so the outside world called it "dragon yang".
However, the Longyang issued by the Qing Dynasty was not just one, nor did it achieve the unification of currencies as it is now. Local governments also have the power to mint money independently, so Longyang can be roughly divided into Longyang of the General Mint and local Longyang.
However, these can be regarded as a series of currencies under the control of the Qing government, and these silver dollars were not completely abolished after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, and can still be circulated and used in many areas.
(Sailing Silver Dollar)
Secondly, let's take a look at what types of silver dollars are available after the establishment of the Republic of China.
The first is the "Yuan Datou" minted in the third year of the Republic of China, and its pattern is Yuan Shikai, the president of the early Republic of China, who uses his head as a pattern to create a currency exclusive to the Republic of China period for issuance and use, which has a certain symbolic significance. Because its avatar is more "conspicuous" and other reasons, people are also commonly known as "Yuan Datou".
The second is that after the fall of Yuan Shikai, the Northern Expedition was won in 1927, and the leader Sun Yat-sen issued a new currency.
This time, the currency was also minted on the basis of "Yuan Datou", but the avatar on the silver dollar was replaced by Sun Yat-sen himself. In addition, Sun Yat-sen's head is smaller than "Yuan Datou" in comparison between the two, so the outside world is jokingly called "Sun Xiaotou".
(Yuan Portrait Republic Commemorative One Circle)
The third is the currency independently issued by the Beiyang warlords, and the leaders of the major warlords are also modeled after the "Yuan Datou" design, all replaced with the heads of their respective leaders, such as Duan Qirui, Zhang Zuolin and other commemorative silver dollars.
The fourth is that after the 30s of the last century, after the establishment of the Chinese Soviet Government, the Central Soviet Region began to create its own currency style, but at that time there was a lack of resources, no one designed a new currency style, and there was no way to cast its own "ocean" according to the style of Yuan Datou.
Therefore, its appearance is the same as "Yuan Datou", that is, the word on it has been changed to "Soviet", which is simply a copycat version of "Yuan Datou".
(Republic of China Dayang)
In addition, there are some types of silver dollars that foreign countries have previously flowed into China, which do not account for a large proportion, but there are still remains. In summary, there are four main types, namely Qing government issuance, Republic of China issuance, Chinese Soviet issuance, and foreign remnant silver dollars.
It has to be said that this is indeed very chaotic, which has brought a very adverse impact on the mainland's modern economic development, and has also directly or indirectly brought serious damage.
3. How much was an ocean worth during the Republic of China?
Then in the end, people are more concerned about, how much is an ocean equivalent to the current amount during the Republic of China? You must know that no matter how many types of oceans there were at that time, the material was basically made of silver, and it could be recognized by the public and used as a circulation currency.
(Yuan Datou)
However, at different times, the value of the ocean also has certain differences. First of all, from the perspective of its own silver content, taking Yuan Datou as an example, the silver content is about 24 grams, and the price of silver today is about 5 yuan per gram, so the ocean is worth at least 120 yuan.
Going back to a specific era, five silver dollars could buy a cow in the early Republic of China, and now a cow has to start with more than 10,000, so at that time, a silver dollar could be worth about 2,000 yuan now.
Comprehensively considered, the value of the ocean is not fixed, and there is no way to measure it with the current currency, it can only be limited to between 200 and 2000, after all, there are other types of silver dollars, their purchasing power is different, relatively speaking, the more common is still Yuan Datou, and the value of other silver dollars fluctuates more.
(Longyang Guangxu Yuanbao)
Resources
ZHANG Yonghua. Catalogue of Chinese Silver Round Treasures[M].Zhejiang University Press,2001.