These are Mexican Eight Reales coins, the so-called “Pieces of Eight,” whose scrolls on the obverse were the origin of the American dollar sign. The Eight Reales was the largest and heaviest silver coin minted for over 200 years, and due to the turbulence of Asian governments and colonialism during the 1800s and early 1900s, the currency standard for much of the Far East. They were also commonly used in China up until the 1930s; the author/adventurer Peter Fleming references paying for drinks at Writer’s Bar at the Grand Hotel in Beijing (now the Beijing Raffles) in 1934 in “Mex” – slang at the time for this currency. Now collectors items, some even feature “chopmarks” which were marks made on the coin by international traders to authenticate the silver content. They were still convertible in China until the Communist Party came to power and put in place a national banking and currency system in 1948.

This China cultural article is one of a regular series we are running at China Briefing. Conducting business in China is more than just legal and tax advise, one has to “feel” the country and its rhythms as well in order to properly advice clients on conducting business in this massive country. These China cultural articles are intended to assist with a greater business understanding of the background to doing business in China, and are provided by the research team at Dezan Shira & Associates. To view the China business cultural archives please click here.