Money in early China

Early systems of exchange

In ancient China, coins were not used to exchange goods, but instead the people used bolts of silk and rice to determine the worth of something. At one point, salt was even used for money, with families being given a block of salt to buy whatever was needed and what was left was used for cooking.

found from [1]

Metal coins

Early coins were in the shapes of knives or spears, though these coins had no practical use, they may have been a reflection of the times.

Most dynasties used unique coins with a new shape and stamp to differentiate the new dynasty from the old. The earliest metal used for coins was brass, but each dynasty also used different metals such as iron.

Found from [2]

Coins commonly had a hole in the middle so they could be looped around the belt for easy access.

Paper Money

In 1120 the Song Dynasty started using paper coins. What started as a way for warehouses to help customers easily pay for goods, became a government sponsored program and turned into the worlds first government paper money system. The use of paper money made credit more available through money-lenders, brokers, warehousemen and wholesalers.

References

Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. Cambridge Illustrated History of China,2nd ed. Cambridge University Press 2010, Cambridge, New York. 41, 42,54,72,75,142

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