Directory_and_Chronicle_1918 — Page 529

WEIGHTS, MEASURES, MONEY

461

MONEY

1 li

i

釐(cash)

10 li

釐 make I fên 分 (candareen)

10 fên 芬 make 1 ch'ien錢(mace)

10 ch'ien 錢 make liang 兩(tael)

1

The Tael may be taken as worth one and a third silver dollar.

032 of a penny

•32 of a penny

3.2 pence

2s. 8d.

The above are weights of silver. They are not represented by any coin except the copper cash, which is supposed to be the equivalent in value of a li of silver, but the value of which differs greatly in different districts and at different times. They have no uniform intrinsie value, being made large and small and of varying composition. Silver is used uncoined in ingots, usually of fifty taels more or less, in weight, called "shoes," the usual shape being not unlike a Chinese shoe. In the maritime district from Canton to Amoy chopped dollars are the general medium of exchange. In 1890 a mint was established for the coinage of silver dollars and subsidiary pieces, and more recently mints for silver and copper coinage have been opened at Nanking, Wuchang, and Tientsin, and others are projected. The coins, although supposed to be of equal weight and fineness, are differently inscribed. Some of the foreign banks issue tael and dollar notes of the value of one dollar and upwards at the larger of the Treaty Ports.

HONGKONG AND STRAITS SETTLEMENTS

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. The circulation of any foreign silver or copper coin other than the Mexican dollar is prohibited. 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 2s. 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 Philippines is 137.9 lbs., 16 piculs going to the ton.

į