CO129-257 - Public Offices & Others - 1892 — Page 213

Copy.

C. O.

211

6072

REOP

Rec 28 MAR 32

Report upon the use to which the Hongkong

subsidiary silver coinage 16 applied in China.

The circulation of the Hongkong subsidiary

coinage as a medium of exchange in China is prac-

tically confined to the Treaty Ports and the re-

gions in their immediate vicinity. Outside of

the limits to which foreign business transactions

extend, these coins are either not accepted at all,

or are only received after satisfactory explanation

has been given of their value in copper "cash".

Nowhere in China do they appear to be melted down

into "shoes" or ingots, as, wherever they are in

use as currency, their purchasing value as coin 18

greater than that of their weight in silver.

That coining 18 reminerative because of the alloy

used is a principle well understood in China, and

the reverse process of melting down is not practised

to any appreciable extent in the country. Apart

from the quantity in current use at the Treaty Ports

and their vicinity, the great majority of the Hong-

kong coins find their way into the interior, where

they are converted into buttons, made into ornaments

or preserved as curiosities. To render them more

attractive ir appearance, they are often, when

used in this way, either gilt or coloured on the

centre of the face with blue enamel.

It is not

unusual for a Chinese family to have a collection

of

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