be one
hundred cash and
I hitherto been recognised as a primary medium of trade and - the absolutely valueless. A certain quantity of small coins were consequently issued from the newly instituted mint, but these did not meet with the approval of the people who viewed them with suspicion, preferring infinitely the British coinage with which they were familiar. Accordingly towards the end of 1890, the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation purchased $15,000 worth of subsidiary coins to the amount of Fifteen thousand dollars, comprising Ten thousand Dollars worth of Twenty cent pieces and Five thousand Dollars' worth of Ten cent pieces.
$15,000
$10.00
$5.00
The purchases continued in the current year by purchases to the extent of One hundred and thirty thousand Dollars ($130,000), comprising Twelve thousand Dollars worth of Twenty cent pieces, Eighty thousand Dollars worth of Ten cent pieces, and Thirty thousand Dollars worth of Five cent pieces. The Native Banks having further commissioned the aforesaid Corporation to procure for them Ten cent pieces to the value of Ten thousand Dollars ($10,000).
Thus the total amount of Hongkong silver coinage withdrawn from circulation in the Colony for use at this one port amounts to no less than One hundred and fifty thousand Dollars in value, or One million eight hundred and forty-five thousand coins of all denominations, exclusive of the many hundreds that are constantly being introduced by the never-ceasing flow of passengers from Hong Kong and other places.
641
Apart from the fact of their older acquaintance with the Hongkong coins, the natives prefer them also on account of their superior "touch", besides which they are not nearly so liable to be counterfeited or tampered with as the Chinese and Japanese coins, which are extensively falsified, especially the latter. At the present moment, the Hong Kong Ten cent piece exchanges for One hundred and six cash, while those of Canton and Japan exchange for Eighty and Fifty cash respectively; I hear, moreover, on reliable authority that the Hong Kong coins are current, if not throughout the Province, at least for a considerable distance, notably at Foochow, and command a still higher rate owing to their comparative scarcity, thus creating an increasing demand for which the supply is inadequate. The Local Authorities have issued an order that the Canton coins are to be accepted at par with those of Hongkong.