Directory_and_Chronicle_1908 — Page 508

WEIGHTS, MEASURES, MONEY

HONGKONG AND STRAITS SETTLEMENTS

435

MONEY:-The legal tender in Hongkong is British or Mexican Dollars, local 50, 20, 10 and 5 cent silver pieces, to the amount of $2, bronze cents and mils. Chopped dollars of any coinage except British, which it is illegal to deface, and subsidiary coins of the Kwangtung mint are in general use in Hongkong. Some of the banks issue notes from one dollar upwards. Mexican and British dollars were demonetised in the Straits Settlements in 1904 and a Straits dollar sub- stituted. The value of this dollar is fixed at 28, 4d. In the Straits 50-cent pieces are legal tender for the payment of any amount; so also are sovereigns.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES-English, Malay and Chinese in the Straits Settlements, and English and Chinese in Hongkong and the Treaty Ports of China are used.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

The peso, equivalent in value to fifty cents, United States Currency, is legal tender in the Philippine Islands to any amount. So also are the United States gold coins. The media or half peso is legal tender up to ten pesos. Though the coinage is on a gold basis, no gold coins are in circulation. Government silver certificates are issued for ten, five, and two pesos, and the Banco Español Filipina of Manila issues bank notes for five, ten, twenty-five, fifty, one hundred and two hundred pesos.

WEIGHTS

The official system is the Metric system, but weights of Spanish origin are still in com- mon use. The picul in the Phillipines is 137.9 lbs., 16 piculs going to the ton.

JAPANESE

WEIGHTS

8.2817077001 lbs. avoir., or 0.8281707700 lbs. avoir., or 0.0082817077 lbs. avoir., or 0.0008281708 lbs. avoir., or 0.0000828171 lbs. avoir., or 0.0000082817 lbs. avoir., or 0.0000008282 lbs. avoir., or = 132.5073232011 lbs. avoir., or 1.3250732320 lbs. avoir., or

1 Hiyaku-me or

1 Kwam-me or 1,000 Momme 100 Momme

1 Momme

or

10 Fun

1 Fun

or

10 Rin

1 Rin

or

10 Mo

1 Mo

or

10 Shi

1 Shi

1 Hiyak-kin or

100 Kin

1 Kin

or 160 Momme =

8.7565217 kilogrammes 375.65217 grammes 8.756521 grammes 0.375652 grammes 0.037565 grammes 0.003766 grammes 0.000375 grammes 60.1043472 kilogrammes 601.013472 grammes

APOTHECARIES WEIGHT-1 Riyo or 4 Momme equal 0.0402583013 lbs. troy.

DRY MEASURE

1 Jo make 10 Shaku =

about 4 yards 5

inches English

1 Shaku make 10 Sun

1 Sun make 10 Bu

about 1 foot 244 inches English

about 1 inches English

LAND MEASURE

1 Ri

make 36 Cho

1 Cho make 60 Ken

1 Ken make 6 Shaku

2.4403 English miles 119.305 English yards 59.653 English feet

MONEY

On 1st October, 1897, Japan adopted a gold standard, taking the yen (dollar) at 24:59 pence sterling. The coinage is decimal.

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