Silver Sycee with Gold
Weight: 31.8 grams (8 maces)
Inscriptions: 壽
Shou (Longevity)
These images show a good-luck
silver sycee-one genuinely made and plated with gold. Obviously, this luxurious
specimen was cast by rich people for presentation, rather than for circulation.
Gold had never been widely used as a currency in China
because of its rarity and high value. It was usually treated as important
treasure or an asset of the rich.
It is, however, interesting that historical records indicate
older sycee of the Hsien Feng and earlier reigns of the Ching Dynasty contained
gold. Refining a 50 tael sycee could produce 1-2 maces
(3.6.-7.2
grams) of gold, and this became a very profitable business for the silver banks
in the past.
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