There are many ancient monetary units in China, which are different from dynasty to dynasty, especially before the Qin and Han dynasties.Only three basic units are discussed here: a penny coin, which is a standard copper coin with a square hole; a tael of silver; A tael of gold.The exchange ratio between copper, silver and gold, like the current foreign exchange price, is constantly changing, unlike 1 yuan equal to 100 cents.In the early years of Daoguang, one or two pieces of silver were exchanged for money and one hanging, that is, one thousand Wen; By the time of the Opium War in the twentieth year of Daoguang, one tael of silver could be exchanged for 16,700 yuan; Since Xianfeng, the price of silver has risen sharply, and one or two taels of silver can be exchanged for as much as 2,2300 yuan.Under normal circumstances, 1 tael of silver can be exchanged for about 10001500 copper coins, and in ancient times, it was usually said that 1 guan money or 1 hanging money was 1000 yuan.The price of metalsSince the currency made of gold, silver and copper is valuable in itself, and theoretically the value of the currency should be equal to the price of the metal, we can answer the question of "how much is a tael of silver" through the current price of the metal.The Kaiyuan Tongbao money of the Tang Dynasty has a diameter of 8 cents, 10 pieces weigh 1 tael, and Qianwen weighs 6 catties and 4 taels; During the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, each copper coin weighed one penny and two cents and five cents, and then increased to one penny and four cents, and each thousand Wen weighed eight catties and twelve taels.In ancient times, although the weight unit of "liang" was different, it was about 40 grams, while "jin" was about 700 grams.The average weight of each coin is 5 grams.The current price of gold, silver and copper: about 0.The price of 1 yuan of grain is directly measured by grain prices in many historical monographs, and although it is not very accurate and objective to consider grain prices alone, it should be an extremely important reference."
According to the archives of the Military Aircraft Department of the Qing Dynasty, the grain prices of Shuntianfu, Damingfu, and Xuanhua Mansion in Zhili Province in the first half of the 15th year of Guangxu were calculated based on three kinds of grain: millet, sorghum, and corn, with an average of 124 yuan and 6 cents of silver per warehouse stone."
Based on the calculation of 1 stone 100 catties and 70 kilograms, and the price of grain is calculated as 2 yuan per kilogram, the following average value can be obtained: 1 tael of silver: about 170 yuan 1 copper coin: about 0.2 Yuan ConclusionAccording to the above calculation, and then considering that the price of 1 gold is more stable than others, it should be mainly referred to 2 Now that silver has been used as an industrial product, the current reference value of silver prices is low3 Due to the relatively rapid development of agricultural technology, the relative price of grain is much cheaper than in ancient times4 Respect the exchange ratio of ancient times5 Make up whole numbers, easy to convert, and easy to establish perceptual understandingTherefore, the exchange of silver money in the Qing Dynasty was, 1 tael of gold, 2000 yuan, 10 taels of silver, 1 tael of silver, 200 yuan, 1000 wen money, 1 guan money.1 Wen Qian RMB 0.2 yuan additional: 1 stone rice 1 tael of silver: