China's ancient monetary system was based on copper coins. The early forms of money have not yet been discovered. The original copper coins had various shapes, including knife coins, cloth coins and ant nose coins. After Qin Shihuang unified China, he ordered the national copper coins to be based on Qin copper coins. Because the sand mold is used to pour copper coins, the cast copper coins have burrs, so there is a square hole in the middle, which is used to connect wooden sticks in series to polish and file. This special shape gives it many symbolic and mysterious explanations. Some people think that the circle of copper coins represents "heaven" and the square hole in the center represents "earth". Copper coins are usually printed with the emperor's year number when casting. Gold coins were rare in ancient China. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the State of Chu in the Yangtze River valley in the south of China once used gold cakes and nuggets. But in other regions and dynasties, gold was mainly used for decoration and preservation. In the second century BC, Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty issued white deerskin coins to reward nobles and military generals. In addition to copper coins, cotton cloth, silk, rice and other daily necessities are also used as the unit of calculation of money (rather than actual money) to pay the salaries of bureaucrats and the army. After the Tang Dynasty, silver currency gradually spread widely. Although the silver in the national treasury and the official treasury is cast into ingots according to the uniform color and weight for storage, the silver in circulation is not coins, but one by one. When it is used in the market, it has to go through complicated procedures such as calculating color and weighing. Large pieces of silver ingots should be cut with clips, and small pieces of silver ingots need to be recast into large pieces at the silversmith's place. There are many reasons why China doesn't use silver coins, but the main reason is that the government can't provide guarantee for the silver coins issued due to political instability, and at the same time, due to frequent wars, people often hoard silver, which leads to insufficient market circulation to support the silver-based monetary system. Because it is extremely inconvenient to carry a large number of copper coins, cross banknotes appeared in the highly developed Northern Song Dynasty. This is also one of the earliest paper money in the world. But it's more like a money order than paper money in the modern sense. The Yuan Dynasty established by Mongols followed paper money and regarded it as one of the wonderful ways to solve economic difficulties. Regardless of the actual currency circulation and economic level, they issued a large number of unsecured paper money, which caused the earliest inflation. The Yuan Dynasty was replaced by the Ming Dynasty established by the Han people. Its founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang was a conservative agronomist. He thinks that paper money is foreign and should be discarded. However, the paper money issued by the Ming Dynasty itself is called "Daming Treasure Note". This kind of paper money is rarely used among the people. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, silver began to flow into China in large quantities, becoming a metal currency as common as copper coins. During the Qing Dynasty, silver had become the main monetary unit ("two") of the country. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Mexican silver dollars began to circulate in large quantities in China. During the reign of Emperor Guangxu, China minted his own silver coins and set up a family bank to issue regular paper money. 1935, China implemented the legal currency system and officially abolished the silver standard system. According to the Sino-US Silver Agreement of 1936, one yuan of legal tender is equal to 0.265 US dollars. The currency of China is RMB, which is issued by the State Bank, the People's Bank of China. The unit of RMB is yuan, and the tokens are cents and cents. A dollar is ten cents and a dime is ten cents. Paper money has yuan, jiao and fen, and coins have yuan, jiao and fen. The face value of yuan is 1, 2,5, 10 yuan, 20 yuan, 50 yuan, 100 yuan, the face value of corner is 1, 2,5, and the face value of cent is 1, 2,5. The abbreviation of RMB yuan is RMB yuan. The evolution of 1, the earliest currency: natural seashells 2, metal currency: copper imitation shells and money (cloth) (the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River began to act as equivalents in the late Yellow Emperor) 3, the currency of the Western Zhou Dynasty, natural seashells are still important currencies, and metal currency is widely used: A copper seashells and copper blocks B money and cloth are being transformed into metal currency in Guanluo Sanjin area 4, empty money cloth in the Spring and Autumn Period: Money: round money hole, round money square hole ★ In the three gold and weekly currency areas of the global hot news community. Half a penny round square hole 6. The circulation of gold in the warring states period. During the Warring States period, the circulation of gold was based on Jin Yi, mainly on Nan Jin. 7. The monetary gold of the Qin Dynasty was called coins; Copper coin is known as half a tael, as heavy as its text, and it is the next coin; Jade, jade, tortoise, shellfish, silver and tin are all decorations, not coins. 8. There are three baht, four baht, five baht, leather coins and white gold coins in the Western Han Dynasty. 9. Coins in the Eastern Han Dynasty were iron coins: in 30 A.D., Gongsun Shu minted iron coins in Sichuan, and iron was used as five baht for the first time in history: in 40 A.D., Emperor Guangwu suggested to restore 5438+00 baht from Ma Yuan, and two-year coins in the Wang Mang period: six years of wrong knives, wrong knives and big springs; Six years after the abolition of the wrong knife, the wrong knife was changed to Koizumi's five baht, and five things were circulated: gold, silver, copper, turtle and shellfish; Six people: gold loan, silver loan, spring loan and cloth loan. Copper coins are still legal tender units, and the unit is changed from Yi to Jin, 1 Jin = 10000 money. There were unicorn horseshoe gold (round) and horseshoe gold (oval) in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, which were mainly used for gifts and gifts in the Western Han Dynasty. During the follwed period, gold was nationalized. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, gold was reduced, and silk, cloth and copper coins were used as gifts. Shu: straight 100 yuan; Wu: The complete collection is 500. When Qian Jin Dynasty did not coin new coins, the Western Jin Dynasty mainly used five baht from Han and Wei dynasties and all kinds of ancient coins. After Emperor Yuan of the Eastern Jin Dynasty crossed the river, he mainly used the old coins of sixteen countries circulated by Sun and Wu: Liangzhou and Hexi, and recovered five baht. Hanxing Money was the earliest annual money in China, namely, four baht, and Nanqi, Xiao Liang. Eastern Wei Dynasty: Five baht along Yong 'an; Beiqi: Changping five baht; Northern Zhou Dynasty: Buquan and Wuxing Dabu connected the end of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. People in northern Jizhou trade silk cloth, while people in southern Wuling trade salt rice cloth. 14, the currency of Sui and Tang Dynasties, and Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty forged a unified standard of five baht to become a unified currency in domestic circulation! In the legal tender circulation system of the Tang Dynasty, both money and silk were cast in Wude for four years, and the fineness standard was divorced from the monetary measurement and naming system, and the weight was used as the name of the coin. At the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, the currency Huichang Kaiyuan Money (Kaiyuan Bao Tong Qian, with words on the back, was later cast with the name of the country on the back) was generally chaotic in the Five Dynasties and Ten Countries, and Zhou Shizong cast Zhu Yuan Tianbao as the most valuable. Silver began to enter circulation (copper coins decreased, silk was not feasible, and silver gradually entered circulation), but in the Tang Dynasty it was mainly used as ornaments or wealth collection (silver cakes, silver collars), bribery, military supplies, local gifts, etc. After the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the trend of public and private collecting silver gradually took shape. Lingnan Road and Jiangxi Road produce the most silver. 16, Song Dynasty currency, Song Dynasty year money: In addition to Bao Tong's money, add the emperor's year number. At the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty, there was no difference between Bao Tong in the Song and Yuan Dynasties and Bao Tong in Kaiyuan. Later, Bao Tong appeared in Taiping, and Bao Tong appeared in Chunhua. Every time the emperor changes their RMB, they will recast a new currency. Chinese characters are all treasures and ingots, but the fonts have changed, including Zhen, Cao, Li, seal and line. Copper coin areas in the Northern Song Dynasty: Kaifeng Prefecture, East and West Beijing, Hebei, Huainan, Jiangnan, Zhejiang, Fujian, West Guangdong, etc. Northern Song Dynasty Iron Coin Region: Shaanxi, Hedong Southern Song Dynasty Copper Coin Region: Southeast, Southern Song Dynasty Iron Coin Region: Huaibei, Jingxi, Hubei Southern Song Dynasty Iron Coin Region: Jingmen and other places: the credit certificate and the currency fully cashed by customers can only be used in Sichuan. Can be used outside Sichuan (Song Huizong changed Jiaozi into money) Huizi in the Southern Song Dynasty: it was first issued in the southeast, and later the government set up Huizi Library, completely imitating the methods of issuing Huizi local currency in Sichuan: Huaijiao, Hu Hui, Sichuan, Yinhuizi 17. During the currency unification of the Yuan Dynasty, the foundation of the Yuan paper money system was laid, and the Yuan Dynasty did not cast copper coins. In the Yuan Dynasty, the most important currency circulating in parallel with the central bank paper money reached the period of RMB paper money. The circulation of silver was forbidden in the Yuan Dynasty, but it was widely used by the people, and paper money was linked with silver. 18, Ming and Qing currency, Daming Treasures: There is no reserve for issuing paper money, allowing people to exchange gold and silver for Daming Treasures, and the payment is limited. Old paper money can be exchanged for new paper money, 148 1 paper money collapses, 158 1 silver becomes common currency, 19, modern currency copper.