Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Address of the President to Congress December 8, 1914

File No. 893.515/11.

Minister Reinsch to the Secretary of State.

No. 113.]

American Legation,
Peking, February 12, 1914.

Sir: Referring to my despatch No. 89 of January 26th, with which I transmitted, for the information of the Department, a translation of the Currency Law then understood to have received the approval of the President, I have the honor to send you herewith the translation of the National Currency Law, together with the accompanying detailed regulations for its enforcement, in the form in which it was promulgated on February 7th. It will be observed that in its final form the Law (Article 5) established for the subsidiary silver coins different weights from those prescribed in the earlier draft. I have [etc.]

Paul S. Reinsch

.

[Inclosure.]

[Untitled]

Peking Daily News, February 9, 1914.

The National Currency Law was promulgated by a Presidential Order dated Feb. 7th. It was accompanied by the regulations for the enforcement of the National Currency Law. The following is a translation of the National Currency Law and the detailed regulations.

National Currency Law.

• Art. 1. The right of minting and issuance of national currency shall solely belong to the Government.
• Art. 2. The unit of the national coins shall be called yuan, and the yuan shall contain six mace, four candareens and eight li (kuping weight) or 23.97795048 grammes of pure silver.
• Art. 3. The different kinds of national coins are as follows:

  A. —Four kinds of silver coins:

  (1) 1 yuan.

  (2) ½ yuan.

  (3) 20-cent piece.

  (4) 10-cent piece.

  B. —One kind of nickel coin:

  (1) 5-cent piece.

  C. —Five kinds of copper coins:

  (1) 2-cent copper piece.

  (2) 1-cent copper piece.

  (3) 5-li piece.

  (4) 2-li piece.

  (5) 1-li piece.

• Art. 4. The value of the national coin shall be in decimal progression. One-tenth of a yuan shall make a chio or a 10-cent piece. One-hundredth of a yuan shall make 1 fen or cent, and one-thousandth of a yuan shall make one li.
• Art. 5. The weight and fineness of the coins shall be as follows:

  1. One yuan, gross weight 72 candareens with 90 per cent silver and 10 per cent copper.

  2. 50-cent piece, gross weight 38 candareens with 70 per cent silver and 30 per cent copper. [14.4]

  3. 20-cent piece, gross weight 1.44 [14.4] candareens, with 70 per cent silver and 30 per cent copper.

  4. 10-cent piece, 7.2 candareens with 70 per cent silver and 30 per cent copper.

  5. 5-cent nickel piece, gross weight 7 candareens with 25 per cent nickel and 75 per cent copper.

  6. 2-cent copper piece, gross weight 28 candareens with 95 per cent copper, 4 per cent pewter and 1 per cent lead.

  7. 1-cent copper piece, gross weight 18 candareens, with its fineness same as 2-cent copper piece.

  8. 5-li copper piece, gross weight 9 candareens with its fineness same as above.

  9. 2-li copper piece, gross weight 4.5 candareens with its fineness same as above.

  10. 1-li copper piece, gross weight 2.5 candareens with its fineness same as above.

• Art. 6. No restrictions shall be placed upon the use of 1-yuan piece. The amount of 50-cent pieces involved in one transaction shall not exceed twenty dollars. The amount of 20-cent and 10-cent pieces involved in one transaction shall not exceed five dollars. The amount of nickel or copper pieces involved in one transaction shall not exceed one dollar. This restriction shall not be applied to the collection of taxes and the exchanges in the national banks.
• Art. 7. The designs of the national coins shall be promulgated by a Provisional Order.
• Art. 8. The ratio of the difference between the weight of each silver coin and that of the legal tender shall not exceed 3/1000.
• The ratio of the difference between the total weight of per 1000 pieces of the silver coins and the legal weight of that amount of coins shall not exceed 3/10,000.
• Art. 9. The ratio of the difference between the fineness of any piece of silver coin and the legal fineness shall not exceed 3/1000.
• Art. 10. When on account of wear and tear, the 1-yuan silver piece loses 1 per cent of its weight, it may be exchanged at the government banks for a new dollar. When, on account of wear and tear, the 50-cent silver piece and other kinds of coins lose 5 per cent of the legal weight, they may be exchanged at the government banks for new coins.
• Art. 11. When a coin is found to be mutilated purposely, no one shall be compelled to accept it.
• Art. 12. The Government consents to coin 1-yuan silver pieces for those who give to it silver bullion, and 6 li per yuan shall be charged as minting fee.
• Art. 13. This law shall be in force on the day of its promulgation.

Regulations.

• Art. 1. The national coins must be used as a medium in the transaction of any financial dealing in the country. Special regulations in the Currency Regulations must also be observed.
• Art. 2. The Government shall exchange the silver dollars coined by the old mints with the national coins and remint the dollars. Within a certain period, the old dollar shall possess the same value as the yuan, but as to the length of that period a provisional order shall be issued to fix it.
• Art. 3. The Government shall recall all the old silver pieces of the different denominations, old copper pieces and remint them, but within a certain fixed period the old coins shall be allowed to be circulated at the market prices.
• Art. 4. If the old coins are used to pay taxes, every month all the public offices shall issue notices fixing the current rate of the coins at which the offices shall receive the old coins. The offices shall take as the current rate an average of the exchange rates of the previous month. The period for the circulation of the old coins shall be fixed by a provisional order.
• Art. 5. If taxes are remitted with silver bullion or if any person wants the Government to mint silver coins for him, in the calculation one dollar shall contain 65.4 candareens. The bullion of other fineness and weight shall be converted according to a table to be attached.
• Art. 6. In the public offices where the receipts and expenditures are calculated in taels, the amount should be converted into the term of yuan in accordance with Art. 4. At places where the receipts and disbursements consist of copper coins and cash, the public office shall report to the Ministry of Finance the actual sum of receipts and disbursements with request for permission to convert the coins into the term of yuan.
• Art. 7. In the collection of various revenues and taxes, Articles 5, 6 and 7 shall be observed. In the calculation, the li shall be the smallest of denominations. All the decimal fractions of the li shall be treated thus: when the figure is 4, [it] shall be discarded, and when it is 5, it shall be considered as one, to be added to the other integers.
• Art. 8. When debts among the people are to be calculated in the term of taels, they should be converted into the term of the national coin. Where the old subsidiary coins are involved, Article 6 shall be observed in the conversion into the national coins. If the sums in the deeds, contracts and promissory notes are not converted into the term of yuan and if any lawsuit arises, the exchange rate on the day of promulgation of these regulations shall be considered as a standard.
• Art. 9. Within the domain of China, no one shall object to the use of the national coins.
• Art. 10. If anybody disregards Article 4 of the Law for the National Currency and Article 9 of the Regulations for the Enforcement of the Law for the National Currency, the party concerned may bring a lawsuit against him, and when convicted a fine from 10 dollars to 1,000 dollars shall be imposed on the offender. Any official or any member connected with the Government enterprises who commits the same offense, is liable to pay a fine of from 50 to 3,000 dollars after the same procedure has been observed.
• Art. 11. The area and the date for the enforcement of these Regulations shall be fixed by a provisional order.