A sycee was a type of silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

 or gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

 ingot

Ingot

An ingot is a material, usually metal, that is cast into a shape suitable for further processing. Non-metallic and semiconductor materials prepared in bulk form may also be referred to as ingots, particularly when cast by mold based methods.-Uses:...

 currency used in China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 until the 20th century. The name derives from the Cantonese

Standard Cantonese

Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a language that originated in the vicinity of Canton in southern China, and is often regarded as the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese....

 words meaning "fine silk" (Directly translated:small silk. Presumably). In North China, the word yuanbao , rendered by 19th-century English writers as yamboo or yambu, was also used for similar ingots.

Sycees were not denominated or made by a central mint and their value, like the value of the various silver coins and little pieces of silver in circulation at the end of the Qing dynasty, was determined by experienced moneyhandlers known as "shroffs," who estimated the appropriate discount based on the purity of the silver and evaluated the weight in tael

Tael

Tael can refer to any one of several weight measures of the Far East. Most commonly, it refers to the Chinese tael, a part of the Chinese system of weights and currency....

s and the progressive decimal subdivisions of the tael (mace, candareen and cash). When currency was normalized in Republican times, the old usage of denominating value by equivalent standard weight of silver survived in Cantonese slang in the common term for a dime and a five cent piece (chat fen yi i.e. seven candareens two cash and saam fen luk i.e. three candareens and six cash). Sycee were made by individual silversmiths for local exchange; consequently, the shape and amount of extra detail on each ingot were highly variable. Square and oval shapes were common, but "boat", flower, tortoise and others are known. Sycee can also refer to gold ingots minted in similar shapes.

History

Sycees were first used as a medium for exchange as early as the Qin Dynasty

Qin Dynasty

The Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring...

. During the Tang Dynasty

Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

, a standard bi-metallic system of silver and copper coinage was codified with 10 silver coins equal to 1,000 copper cash

Cash (Chinese coin)

A cash was a type of coin of China and East Asia from the 2nd century BC until the AD 20th century. The photograph to the right shows replicas of various ancient to 19th century cast coins in various metals found in China and Japan.-Terminology:...

 coins. Paper money and bonds were introduced in the 9th century. However, due to monetary problems such as enormous local variations in monetary supply and exchange rates, rapid changes in the relative value of silver and copper, coin fraud, inflation, and political uncertainty with changing regimes, until the time of the Republic payment by weight of silver was the standard practice and merchants carried their own scales with them. Most of the so-called "opium scales" seen in museums were actually for weighing payments in silver. The tael was still the basis of the silver currency and sycees remained in use until the end of the Qing Dynasty

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

. Common weights were 50 taels, 10 taels, and 5 down to 1 tael.

When foreign silver coins began to circulate in China in the later 16th century, they were initially thought of as a type of "quasi-sycee" and imprinted with chop

Seal (Chinese)

A seal, in an East Asian context, is a general name for printing stamps and impressions thereof that are used in lieu of signatures in personal documents, office paperwork, contracts, art, or any item requiring acknowledgment or authorship...

s just as sycees were.

Contemporary uses

Today, imitation gold sycees are used a symbol of prosperity by Chinese and are frequently displayed at Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...

. Reproduction or commemorative gold sycees continue to be minted as collectibles.

Another form of imitation yuanbao - made by folding gold- or silver-colored paper - can be burned at ancestors' graves during the Ghost Festival

Ghost Festival

The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries...

, along with imitation paper money.

External links

• Examples of Chinese silver sycee (images)
• Sycee On Line
  • Chinese Sycee History at Sycee-on-line.com