User:Donald Trung/Bamboo tallies

Target article: Bamboo tally

Original draft
Bamboo tallies (Traditional Chinese: 錢籌; Simplified Chinese: 钱筹; Pinyin: qián chóu) alternatively known as bamboo tokens and bamboo money, were a type of alternative currency that was produced in Eastern China (primarily in the provinces of Shandong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang often around the city of Suzhou) from the 1870s until the 1940s and were used supplement Chinese cash coins and other small denomination Chinese currencies in a manner similar to paper money. Some bamboo tallies were issued in denominations of wén or "strings of cash coins", some bamboo tallies were denominated in tóngyuán (machine-struck coins of 10 wén), jiǎo, and yáng (foreign silver coins).

These bamboo tallies were used due to the loss of authority of the government of the Qing dynasty and continued to be used during the turbulent period of the Republic of China as many local private banks at the time were suffering from shortages of coinage so they issued their own currency provisionally. Bamboo tallies continued to be used in China up until the 1960s.

Manufacture
Bamboo tallies were manufactured from bamboo from coastal China, to make these tallies the skin of the bamboo was removed and then the stalk would be cut into rectangles that would have a hole drilled at the top. On the obverse side the denomination of the bamboo tally was placed and in uncommon cases the date of issue while on the reverse side an inked serial number along with the name of the issuing bank of merchant would be placed. The sides of the bamboo tallies would often be inscribed with the manufacturing company and anti-counterfeit measures such as the statement "not compensated if lost" (失去不補). After the tally was fully inscribed the bamboo would be lacquered to improve the durability of the tally.

Related

 * User:Donald Trung/Template-sandbox - Chinese currency and coinage