10 Cash – Anhwei Province

In 1902, Anhwei (modern Anhui) Province, like much of late Qing China, operated within a complex and chaotic multi-currency system. The primary medium for large transactions and tax payments remained the silver tael, a unit of weight rather than a coin, leading to inconsistencies as every major city and trade guild had its own standard. The province dealt with a proliferation of silver sycees (shoes or ingots), foreign silver dollars (primarily Mexican and later British trade dollars), and a vast array of copper cash coins for daily retail. This fragmentation created significant friction in commerce, as constant assay and exchange between formats were required, benefiting money-changers and corrupt officials while burdening merchants and peasants.

The period was marked by a severe shortage of standardized small-denomination currency, particularly copper cash. This scarcity was exacerbated by the Boxer Indemnity payments imposed after 1901, which drained silver from the provincial economy, and by the hoarding and melting of copper coins. In response, provincial authorities and even local merchants increasingly issued their own unofficial cash tokens and privately minted copper coins to facilitate local trade, further decentralizing monetary authority. Meanwhile, the imperial government’s attempts at reform, such as promoting the new imperial silver dollar and copper coinage from the Tianjin Mint, had limited and uneven penetration in Anhwei’s inland markets.

Consequently, Anhwei in 1902 exemplified the fiscal weakness of the Qing state. The currency situation was a patchwork of imperial, provincial, private, and foreign monies, leading to exchange rate volatility and widespread counterfeiting. This monetary disarray stifled economic integration within the province, complicated tax collection, and reflected the broader dynastic decline, where central control was eroding in the face of local necessity and foreign economic pressure. It set the stage for the more aggressive provincial minting and banking experiments that would follow in the decade before the 1911 Revolution.