1.
Silver coin
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Silver coins are possibly the oldest mass-produced form of coinage. Silver has been used as a coinage metal since the times of the Greeks, the ancient Persians used silver coins between 612-330 BC. Before 1797, British pennies were made of silver, as with all collectible coins, many factors determine the value of a silver coin, such as its rarity, demand, condition and the number originally minted. Ancient silver coins coveted by collectors include the Denarius and Miliarense, while more recent collectible silver coins include the Morgan Dollar, other than collectors silver coins, silver bullion coins are popular among people who desire a hedge against currency inflation or store of value. Silver has a currency symbol of XAG under ISO4217. The earliest coins of the world were minted in the kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor around 600 BC. The coins of Lydia were made of electrum, which is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, the concept of coinage, i. e. stamped lumps of metal of a specified weight, quickly spread to adjacent regions, such as Aegina. In these neighbouring regions, inhabited by Greeks, coins were made of silver. As Greek merchants traded with Greek communities throughout the Mediterranean Sea and these early Greek silver coins were denominated in staters or drachmas and its fractions. More or less simultaneously with the development of the Lydian and Greek coinages, the Chinese coins, however, were a different concept and they were made of bronze. The coins of the Greeks were issued by a number of city states. The coinage systems were not entirely the same from one place to another, however, the so-called Attic standard, Corinthian standard, Aiginetic standard and other standards defined the proper weight of each coin. Each of these standards were used in places throughout the Mediterranean region. In the 4th century BC, the Kingdom of Macedonia came to dominate the Greek world, the most powerful of their kings, Alexander the Great eventually launched an attack on the Kingdom of Persia, defeating and conquering it. Greek coins were now issued by kings, and only to an extent by cities. Greek rulers were now minting coins as far away as Egypt, the tetradrachm was a popular coin throughout the region. This era is referred to as the hellenistic era, while much of the Greek world was being transformed into monarchies, the Romans were expanding their control throughout the Italian Peninsula. The Romans minted their first coins during the early 3rd century BC, the earliest coins were - like other coins in the region - silver drachms with a supplementary bronze coinage
2.
Spanish dollar
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Its purpose was to correspond to the German thaler. The Spanish dollar was used by many countries as the first international currency because of its uniformity in standard. Some countries countersigned the Spanish dollar so it could be used as their local currency, the Spanish dollar was the coin upon which the original United States dollar was based, and it remained legal tender in the United States until the Coinage Act of 1857. Because it was used in Europe, the Americas. Diverse theories link the origin of the $ symbol to the columns, millions of Spanish dollars were minted over the course of several centuries. They were among the most widely circulating coins of the period in the Americas. In the 16th century, Count Hieronymus Schlick of Bohemia began minting coins known as Joachimsthalers, named for Joachimsthal, the Joachimsthalers weighed 451 Troy grains of silver. So successful were these coins that similar thalers were minted in Burgundy, the Burgundian Cross Thaler depicted the Cross of Burgundy and was prevalent in the Burgundian Netherlands that were revolting against the Spanish king and Duke of Burgundy Philip II. After 1575, the Dutch revolting provinces replaced the currency with a daalder depicting a lion, specifically to facilitate export trade, the leeuwendaalder was authorized to contain 427.16 grains of.750 fine silver, lighter than the large denomination coins then in circulation. Clearly it was advantageous for a Dutch merchant to pay a foreign debt in leeuwendaalders rather than in other heavier. Thus, the leeuwendaalder or lion dollar became the coin of choice for foreign trade and it became popular in the Middle East, and colonies in the east and west. They also circulated throughout the English colonies during the Seventeenth and early Eighteenth centuries, from New Netherland the lion dollar spread to all thirteen colonies in the west. After the introduction of the Guldengroschen in Austria in 1486, the concept of a silver coin with high purity eventually spread throughout the rest of Europe. Monetary reform in Spain brought about the introduction of an 8-real coin in 1497, in 1537 the Spanish escudo gold coin was introduced, which was worth 16 reales. The later Gold Doubloon was worth 32 reales or 2 escudos and it is this divisibility into 8 which caused the silver coins to be named pieces of eight. In the following centuries, the coin was minted with different designs at various mints in Spain. In the 19th century, the denomination was changed to 20 reales. Spains adoption of the peseta in 1869 and its joining the Latin Monetary Union meant the end of the last vestiges of the Spanish dollar in Spain itself
3.
Currency union
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A currency union involves two or more states sharing the same currency without them necessarily having any further integration. Note, Every customs and monetary union and economic and monetary union also has a currency union. Zimbabwe is theoretically in a union with four blocs as the South African rand, Botswana pula, British pound and US dollar freely circulate. Between Republic of Ireland and United Kingdom between 1928 and 1979 using the Irish Pound. and Di Bartolomeo, G. and Tirelli, ‘Monetary conservatism and fiscal coordination in a monetary union’, in, ‘Economics Letters’,94, 56-63. Indianapolis, Library of Economics and Liberty, African monetary union inches closer United States of Southern Africa. South Africa proposes adoption of the rand as provisional SADC common currency
4.
Intramuros
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Intramuros is the oldest district and historic core of Manila, Philippines. It is also called the Walled City, and at the time of the Spanish Colonial Period was synonymous to the city of Manila itself and it was the seat of government when the Philippines was a component realm of the Spanish Empire. Districts beyond the walls were referred as the extramuros of Manila, construction of the defensive walls was started by Spanish colonial government in the late 16th century to protect the city from foreign invasions. The 0. 67-square-kilometre walled city was located along the shores of the Manila Bay. Guarding the old city is Fort Santiago, its located at the mouth of the river. Land reclamations during the early 20th-century subsequently obscured the walls and fort from the bay, Intramuros was heavily damaged during the battle to recapture the city from the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second World War. Reconstruction of the walls was started in 1951 when Intramuros was declared a National Historical Monument, the region was invaded around 1485 by Sultan Bolkiah and became a part of the Sultanate of Brunei. The site of Intramuros then became a part of the Islamic Kingdom of Maynila a Bruneian puppet-state ruled by Rajah Sulayman, a Muslim Rajah who swore fealty to the Sultan of Brunei. In 1564, Spanish explorers led by Miguel López de Legazpi sailed from New Spain, having heard of the rich resources in Manila from the natives, Legazpi dispatched two of his lieutenant-commanders, Martín de Goiti and Juan de Salcedo to explore the island of Luzon. The Spaniards arrived on the island of Luzon in 1570, after quarrels and misunderstandings between the Islamic natives and the Spaniards, they fought for the control of the land and settlements. Legazpi declared the area of Manila as the new capital of the Spanish colony on June 24,1571 because of its strategic location and he also proclaimed the sovereignty of the Monarchy of Spain over the all the archipelago. King Philip II of Spain delighted at the new conquest achieved by Legazpi and his men, awarded the city a coat of arms and declaring it as, Intramuros was settled and became the political, military and religious center of the Spanish Empire in Asia. The city was in constant danger of natural and man-made disasters and worse, in 1574, a fleet of Chinese pirates led by Limahong attacked the city and destroyed it before the Spaniards drove them away. The colony had to be again by the survivors. These attacks prompted the construction of the wall, the city of stone began during the rule of Governor-General Santiago de Vera. The city was planned and executed by Jesuit Priest, Antonio Sedeno and was approved by King Philip IIs Royal Ordinance that was issued in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, leonardo Iturriano, a Spanish military engineer specializing in fortifications, headed the project. Chinese and Filipino workers built the walls, Fort Santiago was rebuilt and a circular fort, known as Nuestra Senora de Guia, was erected to defend the land and sea on the southwestern side of the city. Funds came from a monopoly on playing cards and fines imposed on its excessive play, Chinese goods were taxed for two years
5.
Manila galleon
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The name of the galleon changed to reflect the city that the ship sailed from. The term Manila Galleons is also used to refer to the route between Acapulco and Manila, which lasted from 1565 to 1815. The Manila Galleons were also known in New Spain as La Nao de la China because it carried largely Chinese goods, the Manila Galleon trade route was inaugurated in 1565 after Augustinian friar and navigator Andrés de Urdaneta discovered the tornaviaje or return route from the Philippines to Mexico. The first successful round trips were made by Urdaneta and by Alonso de Arellano that year, the route lasted until 1815 when the Mexican War of Independence ended Spanish control of Mexican ports. The Manila galleons sailed the Pacific for 250 years, bringing to Spain their cargoes of goods, economic benefits. In 1521, a Spanish expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan sailed west across the Pacific using the trade winds. The expedition discovered the Mariana Islands and the Philippines and claimed them for Spain, although Magellan died there, one of his ships made it back to Spain by continuing westward. In order to settle and trade with these islands from the Americas, the first ship to try this a few years later failed. In 1529, Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón also tried sailing east from the Philippines, in 1543, Bernardo de la Torre also failed. In 1542, however, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo helped pave the way by sailing north from Mexico to explore the Pacific coast, reaching as far north as the Russian River, just north of the 38th parallel. The Manila-Acapulco galleon trade finally began when Spanish navigators Alonso de Arellano, sailing as part of the expedition commanded by Miguel López de Legazpi to conquer the Philippines in 1565, Arellano and Urdaneta were given the task of finding a return route. Most of his crew died on the initial voyage, for which they had not sufficiently provisioned. Arellano, who had taken a more southerly route, had already arrived, the English privateer Francis Drake also reached the California coast, in 1579. After capturing a Spanish ship heading for Manila, Drake turned north and he failed in that regard, but staked an English claim somewhere on the northern California coast. Although the ships log and other records were lost, the location is now called Drakes Bay. The first motivation for land exploration of present-day California was to scout out possible way-stations for the seaworn Manila galleons on the last leg of their journey. Early proposals came to little, but in 1769, the Portola expedition established Alta California ports at San Diego and Monterey, providing safe harbors for returning Manila galleons. In Manila, the safety of ocean crossings was commended to the virgin Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Porta Vaga in masses held by the Archbishop of Manila
6.
East Asia
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East Asia is the eastern subregion of the Asian continent, which can be defined in either geographical or ethno-cultural terms. Geographically and geopolitically, it includes China, Taiwan, Mongolia, Korea and Japan, it covers about 12,000,000 km2, or about 28% of the Asian continent, the East Asian people comprise more than 1.5 billion people. About 38% of the population of Asia and 22%, or over one fifth, the overall population density of the region is 133 inhabitants per square kilometre, about three times the world average of 45/km2. Historically, societies in East Asia have been part of the Chinese cultural sphere, major religions include Buddhism, Confucianism or Neo-Confucianism, Taoism, Chinese folk religion in China and Taiwan, Shinto in Japan, Korean shamanism in Korea. Shamanism is also prevalent among Mongolians and other populations of northern East Asia. The Chinese calendar is the root from which many other East Asian calendars are derived, Chinese Dynasties dominated the region in matters of culture, trade, and exploration as well as militarily for a very long time. There are records of tributes sent overseas from the kingdoms of Korea. There were also considerable levels of cultural and religious exchange between the Chinese and other regional Dynasties and Kingdoms, as connections began to strengthen with the Western world, Chinas power began to diminish. Around the same time, Japan solidified itself as a nation state, throughout World War II, Korea, Taiwan, much of eastern China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam all fell under Japanese control. Culturally, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam are commonly seen as being encompassed by cultural East Asia, there are mixed debates around the world whether these countries or regions should be considered in East Asia or not. Vietnam Siberia in Russia Sovereignty issues exist over some territories in the South China Sea, however, in this context, the term Far East is often more appropriate which covers ASEAN countries and the countries in East Asia. However, being a Eurocentric term, Far East describes the geographical position in relation to Europe rather than its location within Asia. Alternatively, the term Asia Pacific Region is often used in describing East Asia and this usage, which is seen in economic and diplomatic discussions, is at odds with the historical meanings of both East Asia and Northeast Asia. The Council on Foreign Relations defines Northeast Asia as Japan and Korea, the military and economic superpower of China became the largest economy in the world in 2014, surpassing the United States of America. Currently in East Asia, trading systems are open, and zero or low duties on imports of consumer and capital goods etc. have considerably helped stimulate cost-efficiency. Free and flexible labor and other markets are important factors making for high levels of business-economic performance. East Asian populations have demonstrated highly positive work ethics, there are relatively large and fast-growing markets for consumer goods and services of all kinds. The culture of East Asia has been influenced by the civilisation of China, East Asia, as well as Vietnam, share a Confucian ethical philosophy, Buddhism, political and legal structures, and historically a common writing system
7.
Yuan (currency)
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The yuan is the base unit of a number of former and present-day Chinese currencies, and usually refers to the primary unit of account of the renminbi, the currency of the Peoples Republic of China. It is also used as a synonym of that currency, especially in international contexts – the ISO4217 standard code for renminbi is CNY, a yuan is also known colloquially as a kuai. One yuan is divided into 10 jiao or colloquially mao, one jiao is divided into 10 fen. When used in English in the context of the foreign exchange market, the Chinese yuan refers to the renminbi. Having been in use for at least 2000 years, the yuan was probably the first decimal currency system and it is also considered the first to use metal coins and bank notes. In Standard Chinese, yuán literally means an object or round coin. During the Qing Dynasty, the yuan was a coin made of silver. In informal contexts, the word is written with the simplified Chinese character 元, in formal contexts it is written with the simplified character 圆 or with the traditional version 圓, both meaning round, after the shape of the coins. These are all pronounced yuán in modern Standard Chinese, but were originally pronounced differently, in the Peoples Republic of China, ￥ or RMB is often prefixed to the amount to indicate that the currency is the renminbi. In many parts of China, the unit of renminbi is sometimes colloquially called kuài rather than yuán, in Cantonese, widely spoken in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong and Macau, the yuan, jiao, and fen are called mān, hòuh, and sīn, respectively. Sīn is a word from the English cent. The traditional character 圓 is also used to denote the Hong Kong dollar, the Macanese pataca, however, they do not share the same names for the subdivisions. The New Taiwan dollar is referred to in Standard Chinese as yuán. The names of the Korean and Japanese currency units, won and yen respectively, are cognates of Mandarin yuán, also meaning round in the Korean and Japanese languages. The Japanese yen was also written with the kanji character 圓. The Korean won used to be written with the hanja character 圜 from 1902 to 1910 and it is now written as 원 in Hangul exclusively, in both North and South Korea. It was subdivided into 1000 cash,100 cents or fen and it replaced copper cash and various silver ingots called sycees. The sycees were denominated in tael, the yuan was valued at 0.72 tael
8.
Silver Dragon (coin)
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This so-called Manila Galleons trade route, led from the 16th Century onwards to the wide circulation and acceptance of pieces of eight in East Asia. e. A weight 7 mace and 2 candareens and a fineness of.900 and these coins were joined in circulation by trade dollars and colonial currencies such as the Hong Kong dollar and the Straits dollar, which were produced to the same standard. Japan too would produce a dollar for external use which differed slightly from the yen coins it issued for its own use at home. The common standard to all these coins were produced facilitated trade as theoretically they were interchangeable with one another on a one for one basis. Even before the ending of the Qing dynasty factions and cliques emerged as would be warlords jostled for position. With the coming of the Chinese republic China would continue producing silver coins of the same specification updated to bear the image of Yuan Shikai and other politicians. China was forced from the standard in 1935, however even after the silver coins became demonetised they remained a highly prized means of preserving wealth in an era of inflation. The first Chinese Silver Panda collectable silver bullion coins were of the specification of 27grams in weight,0.900 fineness. Collecting silver dragon coins especially Chinese ones can be a financially hazardous prospect, History of the Silver Yen Japanese The Meiji Period Yen Japanese Varieties and History of the late Qing dynasty Chinese Silver Coins English
9.
First Opium War
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European silver flowed into China when the Canton System, instituted in the mid-18th century, confined the sea trade to Canton and to the Chinese merchants of the Thirteen Factories. The British East India Company had a monopoly of British trade. The British East India Company began to auction opium grown on its plantations in India to independent foreign traders in exchange for silver, the opium was then transported to the Chinese coast and sold to local middlemen who retailed the drug inside China. This reverse flow of silver and the numbers of opium addicts alarmed Chinese officials. In 1839, the Daoguang Emperor, rejecting proposals to legalise and tax opium, Lin confiscated around 20,000 chests of opium without offering compensation, blockaded trade, and confined foreign merchants to their quarters. The failure of the treaty to satisfy British goals of improved trade, in China, the war is considered the beginning of modern Chinese history. Direct maritime trade between Europe and China began in 1557 when the Portuguese leased an outpost at Macau, after the Spanish conquest of the Philippines, the exchange of goods between China and western Europe accelerated dramatically. From 1565, the annual Manila Galleon brought in enormous amounts of silver to the Asian trade network, from 1700–1842, Guangzhou came to dominate maritime trade with China, and this period became known as the Canton System. Official British trade was conducted through the auspices of the British East India Company, the British East India Company gradually came to dominate Sino-European trade from its position in India. From the inception of the Canton System in 1757, trade in goods from China was extremely lucrative for European, however, foreign traders were only permitted to do business through a body of Chinese merchants known as the Cohong and were restricted to Canton. Foreigners could only live in one of the Thirteen Factories, near Shameen Island, while silk and porcelain drove trade through their popularity in the west, an insatiable demand for tea existed in Britain. However, only silver was accepted in payment by China, which resulted in a trade deficit. From the mid-17th century around 28 million kilograms of silver were received by China, principally from European powers, Britain had been on the gold standard since the 18th century, so it had to purchase silver from continental Europe and Mexico to supply the Chinese appetite for silver. Attempts by a British embassy, a Dutch mission, Russias Golovkin in 1805, by 1817, the British realized they could reduce the trade deficit as well as turn the Indian colony profitable by counter-trading in narcotic Indian opium. Opium was produced in traditionally cotton-growing regions of India under British East India Company monopoly, both areas had been hard hit by the introduction of factory-produced cotton cloth, which used cotton grown in Egypt. The opium was auctioned in Calcutta on the condition that it be shipped by British traders to China, Opium as a medicinal ingredient was documented in texts as early as the Tang dynasty but its recreational use was limited and there were laws against its abuse. British sales of opium began in 1781, and sales increased fivefold between 1821 and 1837, by 1820, just when the Qing treasury needed to finance the suppression of rebellions, the flow of silver had reversed, Chinese merchants were now exporting it to pay for opium. The imperial court debated whether or how to end the opium trade, Napier was instructed to obey Chinese regulations, communicate directly with Chinese authorities, superintend trade pertaining to the contraband trade of opium, and to survey Chinas coastline
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