There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 342 Preparing to Issue Silver Coins
Just half a month later, Lin Wenchang presented Nie Yu with a brand new set of silver coin samples.

The speed is so fast thanks to the invention of the steam coin-making machine. As long as the pattern is carved in advance, it can be stamped quickly and exquisitely.

Nie Yu gently took out a silver coin and weighed it in his hand, comparing it to the standard 100-tael silver coin in front of him. The weights were almost the same.

The weights and measures used in the Han Dynasty were slightly different from those used in later periods. For example, the actual weight of one liang was the middle value of the market liang and the canal liang (Jiangnan) commonly used in the south, which was about 36 grams.

The standard weight of one tael (kuping) in the pseudo-Qing dynasty was approximately 37.3 grams, about 25% lighter than the weight of one tael in later periods.
The silver coin sample that Nie Yu is holding now is a standard one-tael Han Dynasty silver coin, which is about 36 grams.

Nie Yu then carefully examined the surface of the silver coin and saw that a traditional Chinese character was stamped on the front of the coin, while the back was engraved with a pattern of rice ears.

The silver coin itself is a standard round shape, with a fine ring of serrated patterns around the outside, and a line of small characters under the rice ears – “Xinghua Year 3 Da Han Tong Bao Silver Coin”.

Nie Yu asked, "Are these patterns and designs used as anti-counterfeiting measures?"

Lin Wenchang said, "It's precisely the anti-counterfeiting features. Our Great Han has steam engines for minting coins, so we can minimize costs and engrave various complex patterns on silver coins. But if the common people were to follow suit and mint counterfeit money, firstly, even if they could make these intricate and complex anti-counterfeiting patterns, they could only rely on pure hand-stamping and engraving. The resulting costs would only infinitely reduce the profits of counterfeiters, or even eliminate them altogether. Without enough risk, counterfeit and inferior money in the private sector would naturally collapse on its own."

People die for wealth, just as birds die for food!

The reason people counterfeit money is ultimately for profit. If there's no profit to be made, or the profit is too low to warrant the risk of execution or exile, then naturally no one would be willing to counterfeit money.

This is the advantage of mastering steam minting technology. Before a well-developed paper currency economy was established, relying on the unscrupulous methods of steam minting to counterfeit money would have been a losing proposition and simply couldn't have been done.

Leaving aside silver coins, the Da Han Tong Bao copper coin took less than a year from its introduction to completely dominate the domestic currency market of the Han Dynasty.

Those inferior and counterfeit copper coins were no match for them. In terms of copper coin production capacity, they were inferior to the steam-fired coins of the Han Dynasty government. In terms of the exquisite quality and copper content of their coins, they were still inferior to the steam-fired coins of the government government.

It has no advantages, only weaknesses, and can't even win a game.

In addition, the Han Dynasty's severe crackdown on counterfeit and inferior currency has resulted in the arrest of unscrupulous merchants and outlaws who were still minting counterfeit coins, or their retirement from the trade and a change of identity.

A small number escaped from the Han Dynasty and went to places like Jiangnan and Guangdong.

Then, the absurd thing happened: relying on the excellent counterfeiting techniques developed by the steam minting of the Han Dynasty, they successfully produced a set of exquisite copper coins that were more beautiful than the Qianlong Tongbao, but with a lower copper content.

Bad money drives out good money, but good money can also drive out bad money.

These unscrupulous merchants were clever. After being thoroughly defeated by Da Han Steel Money, they decisively copied this approach to Jiangnan and Guangdong.

Nie Yuyu held the silver coin and suddenly tried to bend it gently with her hand. It didn't bend, so it seemed to be harder than a regular silver coin.

Nie Yu asked, "What is the silver content of this coin?"

Lin Wenchang replied, "The silver content is about 8.8 mace, and another 1.2 mace is mixed with copper."

Silver is too soft. Coins made of pure silver are easily bent or broken by the steam engine during the stamping process.

Moreover, if the silver coin itself is too soft and has too high a silver content, people will scrape off the edges to profit from the silver. Last year, when the Englishman Henry came to the Han Dynasty, Nie Yu asked for a silver coin to examine. Not only was the pattern misaligned, but the outer silver layer was completely gone, clearly indicating that it had been scraped off.

Not to mention silver coins, even copper coins used to be scraped off by the people, and then melted down to make copperware to sell for money.

This phenomenon is much less common now because the copper coin production capacity of steam-minted coins is too high. Although the copper content is also high, most of them are alloy copper coins, not 100% copper. The profit from scraping and smelting copper has decreased, so naturally no one has time to do this.

When the Ministry of Revenue wanted to issue silver coins, it naturally had to address the shortcomings of silver coins. The solutions were steam stamping, the development of complex anti-counterfeiting features, and the addition of copper alloys.

This makes it more difficult to counterfeit silver coins. Silver coins made of copper-silver alloy are harder, less prone to being punched or broken, and also make it more difficult for ordinary people to scrape off the edges.

Even if you forcibly scrape it off, it will contain copper alloy, which will increase the cost of smelting and extraction.

In the end, the gains did not outweigh the losses.

Lin Wenchang continued, "This silver coin contains 8.8 mace of silver, and the Ministry of Revenue has set a value of one tael of silver. One silver dollar can be exchanged for one tael of silver."

"Okay, sure." Nie Yu had no objections.

One silver dollar was equivalent to two silver dollars, which facilitated the Ministry of Revenue's promotion of silver dollars and made it easier for merchants and ordinary people to circulate and use them.

Moreover, the silver coin was only discounted by one tael of silver, and its actual silver content was less than one tael of silver. The silver extracted from this 1.2 qian, after deducting the cost of minting the coin itself, was pure profit.

Nie Yu thought for a moment and said, "The Great Han Silver Dollar can be issued and circulated, but it cannot be circulated now. Everything should be done step by step. First, we should promote the new spinning machines. After the spinning machines drive employment for female workers in the countryside and factories are built, we can slowly spread the silver dollars."

"Furthermore, a new silver coin mint will be established, which will be merged with the copper coin mint to form the Minting Bureau. The Minting Bureau will be separated from the Ministry of Revenue and directly controlled by the Prince of Han's Palace, with the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works serving as co-managers."

Having set the tone for the issuance of the silver coin, Nie Ning then picked up a sample of another gold coin. Although this gold coin was equally exquisite, it was clearly inferior to the previous silver coin.

Lin Wenchang offered an explanation at the opportune moment: "Your Majesty, this gold coin has a lower gold content than the silver coin, only about eight mace. It contains about one mace of silver, six mace of copper, and three mace of iron."

A gold coin only contains 80% gold; the rest is mixed with silver and copper, and even iron. No wonder its purity looks significantly lower than that of the previous silver coins.

There's no other way. Gold is too soft, and if the gold content is too high, the gold coin will break. Only by reducing the gold content can it be stamped and shaped normally.

But after doing this, the stamped gold coins looked a bit fake to Nie Yu. They didn't look like usable gold coins, but rather like gold-plated counterfeit money.

Shaking his head, Nie Yu gave the order: "This gold coin won't do. Although it has a gold content of eight qian, most common people and merchants won't buy it. Instead, it will damage the reputation of our Han Dynasty's official minting of coins. I'll keep one of these gold coin samples. Take the rest back and let the craftsmen in the minting department continue to try to mint coins with a higher gold content and guaranteed hardness."

"The minister obeys the order."

Lin Wenchang bowed and accepted the order.

……

(End of this chapter)