In the early Qing Dynasty 100, silver ingots were the main currency, and more than one or two taxes were collected in cash. In the Qing dynasty, land tax was collected every summer and autumn, and food must be enough. Because the central government does not cast silver coins in uniform circulation, the silver used by the people may not be enough, and the shape, fineness and flat size of silver ingots vary from place to place. Therefore, before paying taxes, silversmiths and silver shops will melt and cast scattered folk silver into enough silver. Some silversmiths colluded with officials and took the opportunity to seriously deprive people of the quality and weight of silver, which caused many complicated social problems.
In the late Qing Dynasty, silver ingots began to transform into silver dollars. From the middle of the Ming Dynasty, foreign businessmen used their silver dollars to buy China's silk, tea and porcelain in foreign trade, which made all kinds of foreign silver dollars popular in China. During the light years of sweeping the road signed by the unequal treaty of nanking, all the silver dollars used for reparations were "foreign money". At that time, there was no silver dollar in China. The shortage of foreign currency in stock offset the sharp increase in foreign compensation, forcing the government to start casting silver dollars by itself in the late Qing Dynasty.
The earliest foreign-style silver dollar mechanism in China was the Guangxu Yuanbao, commonly known as Yang Long, which was named after the dragon pattern on the back of the silver dollar. At the same time, there is also a mechanism copper coin, also called "copper coin". The appearance of machine-made silver coins and copper coins has had a great impact on the traditional square holes, round silver coins and copper coins in China.
The types of banknotes issued in Qing Dynasty are complex, including official banknotes and private banknotes. Official banknotes are issued by government financial institutions, while private banknotes are issued by private financial institutions. Paper money can be divided into four types: copper money, copper money, silver money and silver money. At the beginning of issuing paper money, there were bank reserves and paper money coupons.
To sum up, from the Song Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the emergence and circulation of paper money, the increasing status of silver currency, the establishment of the silver-based paper money system in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and the emergence of the mechanism currency system in the late Qing Dynasty were the second stage of the development of Chinese currency history.
The above list is the history of circulating coins, and there are many non-circulating currencies in the coin industry, such as winning money to suppress evil spirits, tomb money to pray for evil spirits, and commemorative coins to commemorate major historical events and outstanding historical figures. These coins, commonly known as "spending money", are insignificant in currency circulation, but they can provide valuable historical materials for folk custom research.