Celestials on the Goldfields

Original Lead Sycee

- 1850's hell Money and Merchant Money

A sycee was an ancient form of currency used in China from the Tang dynasty in 618 AD up to the Republican era in 1933 AD. Usually made in silver or gold, there were also lead sycees to be used as “hell money”. Curiously, its translation from Cantonese (a dialect used in the Guangdong province in Southern China) means “fine silk”. In the Northern China, the sycee was also known as yuanbao meaning “precious money”.

Silver was rather a rare commodity in ancient China due to the absence of rich silver deposits. The methods of refining and purifying silver were not mastered until the Tang Dynasty and even then, the silver mines were not producing sufficient silver for use as currency. In those days, Tang officials would offer gifts of silver to the Emperor. In the Sung Dynasty, domestic silver production increased to the point where it could be used as currency in certain places. While silver was gaining acceptance in the capital, copper coins were still more popular in other areas.

During the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongolians established a currency system whereby silver would occupy a central role. There were 3 major denominations of silver sycees, namely, White Silver, Flower Silver, and Tax Silver. More importantly, China’s silver production received a major boost when the Mongolians conquered Yunnan, where silver was more abundant. However, the use of silver sycees was limited or even forbidden as the Mongolians advocated paper notes as currency. As a result, silver sycees became an underground currency. Illegally, people used silver to peg against the devaluation of paper notes. This trend continued until the reign of Emperor Yin Zhong of the Ming Dynasty, when silver sycees were once again, legal tender.

Unlike most western currencies, there were no official standard issues of the silver sycee since they were minted by silversmiths privately, many working in secret in those times when silver sycees were banned. Thus, the sycee has no fixed shape or design. There are various styles such as boat, shell, biscuit, kettle drum, mirror, caoding, yaoding, and others. Measured in taels, the denominations of the silver sycee could range from 50 taels to 1 tael. A tael of silver is roughly equivalent to 37 grams.