# Chinese silver ingots. What were they used for? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 28, 2019, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-silver-ingots-what-were-they-used-for/833181 "2019-04-28T18:34:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-silver-ingots-what-were-they-used-for/833181/1 "2019-04-28T18:34:10Z")
I tried to find a good image on Google and couldn’t find one. Basically they’re boat shaped ingots approximately 2 to 3 inches wide and 1 to to 2 inches deep. It seems to me it would be easier to carry around silver coins. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-silver-ingots-what-were-they-used-for/833181/2 "2019-04-28T18:37:28Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > I tried to find a good image on Google and couldn’t find one. Basically they’re boat shaped ingots approximately 2 to 3 inches wide and 1 to to 2 inches deep. It seems to me it would be easier to carry around silver coins. Yes, but ingots are easier to store, just like with gold. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-silver-ingots-what-were-they-used-for/833181/3 "2019-04-28T19:19:07Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > I tried to find a good image on Google and couldn’t find one. Basically they’re boat shaped ingots approximately 2 to 3 inches wide and 1 to to 2 inches deep. It seems to me it would be easier to carry around silver coins. What terms did you use? I just used _Chinese silver ingots_ and got tons of photos. (With [this Wikipedia link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sycee) being the first hit.) They may have originally literally indicated the value of a boat. (See [spade money](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spade_money), [knife money](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knife_money), even the “round coin with a hole” may have originated from [bronze](http://www.moneta-coins.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=560&title=bronze-cowry-of-ancient-china&cat=632) [cowrie](https://www.ma-shops.com/fishman/item.php?id=501&lang=en) [money](http://chinesecoins.lyq.dk/Bei/Bei.html). The shapes may have started out like old gold and silver certificates in the US–something that can be exchanged for one boat, spade, knife, or cowrie shell.) ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-silver-ingots-what-were-they-used-for/833181/4 "2019-04-28T19:51:08Z")
The more crude varieties look like they could have been made simply by pouring molten silver into a die shaped like an oval mortar, and then pressing down the pestle. I bet the boat shape somehow facilitated manufacture! ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-silver-ingots-what-were-they-used-for/833181/5 "2019-04-28T19:59:20Z")
> [@Ignotus](#): > > I bet the boat shape somehow facilitated manufacture! With a [convex part on top of the boat, and a convex bottom](https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1GmzTo29TBuNjy1zbq6xpepXaa.jpg), I wonder whether the shape makes it easy to make a stack of ingots with greater stability, and also to carry a stack of ingots with two hands? ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2019, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-silver-ingots-what-were-they-used-for/833181/6 "2019-04-29T17:28:37Z")
They’re more commonly known as taels/liang, a standardized unit of measure still in use today: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tael](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tael) When carried, they were sometime strung up on a cord for transportation. Edit: Miniature versions are sometimes used for Chinese bracelets. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2019, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-silver-ingots-what-were-they-used-for/833181/7 "2019-04-29T17:31:18Z")
I can’t find images on-line, but there are several images in the 1980s movie **Tai-pan**. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2019, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-silver-ingots-what-were-they-used-for/833181/8 "2019-04-29T17:34:17Z")
Here you can see a pile of Chinese boat-shaped silver ingots from **Tai-Pan** at 14 seconds in: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/n8pHJrltSDc/hqdefault.jpg "Tai Pan Trailer 1986") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8pHJrltSDc) ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2019, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-silver-ingots-what-were-they-used-for/833181/9 "2019-04-30T04:08:33Z")
Goole up ‘taels’ and ‘taels liang’ and are several good pics of them. [https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1MSIM\_enUS785US785&biw=1280&bih=879&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=TsrHXNOlNOqH0wLZh5qoCQ&q=taels+liang&oq=taels+liang&gs\_l=img.3…6412.7595…7890…0.0…0.217.741.0j5j1…1…1…gws-wiz-img…0j0i67j0i8i30j0i24.HJUDbiCViyg](https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1MSIM_enUS785US785&biw=1280&bih=879&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=TsrHXNOlNOqH0wLZh5qoCQ&q=taels+liang&oq=taels+liang&gs_l=img.3...6412.7595..7890...0.0..0.217.741.0j5j1......1....1..gws-wiz-img.......0j0i67j0i8i30j0i24.HJUDbiCViyg) [https://www.google.com/search?q=taels&rlz=1C1MSIM\_enUS785US785&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjLkrHF9\_bhAhUrHzQIHS4PCVIQ\_AUIDigB&biw=1280&bih=879#imgrc=gE9s-PaAHnoFTM:](https://www.google.com/search?q=taels&rlz=1C1MSIM_enUS785US785&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjLkrHF9_bhAhUrHzQIHS4PCVIQ_AUIDigB&biw=1280&bih=879#imgrc=gE9s-PaAHnoFTM:) I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them used in Chinese herbal medicine shops where they still use handheld scales to measure the ingredients. As the Wiki article I linked to stated, they’re still used as a unit of measure in some countries. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2019, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-silver-ingots-what-were-they-used-for/833181/10 "2019-04-30T04:18:59Z")
I’ve been thinking (and my head hurts! \), an alternate reason (other than a unit of measure) is that unlike coins or paper currency, they’re less political and less subject to value fluctuation. If you’re trading with a foreigner, would you accept that their currency is worth what they/the exchange says it’s worth and/or made of the metal it’s claimed to be or would you rather have a gold/silver ingot which you could easily confirm by weight is worth a known amount? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2019, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-silver-ingots-what-were-they-used-for/833181/11 "2019-04-30T04:49:31Z")
If you want to believe the “Legend of the Eagle-Shooting Heroes” (Chinese pulp fiction), certain (moneyed) individuals were walking around with stacks of these, using them to pay for huge meals at restaurants, etc. Think of it as a $100 bill. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2019, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-silver-ingots-what-were-they-used-for/833181/12 "2019-04-30T18:39:48Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > I’ve been thinking (and my head hurts! \), an alternate reason (other than a unit of measure) is that unlike coins or paper currency, they’re less political and less subject to value fluctuation. If you’re trading with a foreigner, would you accept that their currency is worth what they/the exchange says it’s worth and/or made of the metal it’s claimed to be or would you rather have a gold/silver ingot which you could easily confirm by weight is worth a known amount? Yes, that’s a general property of commodity currencies. The downside is that you have to be aware of things like [clipping and sweating](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methods_of_coin_debasement) (for coins) and the evergreen problems of plating and alloying. You’re also holding a very illiquid asset which has to be converted to something else before it will accrue interest, but that’s hardly a problem for short-term transactions. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2019, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-silver-ingots-what-were-they-used-for/833181/13 "2019-05-01T17:55:24Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > If you want to believe the “Legend of the Eagle-Shooting Heroes” (Chinese pulp fiction), certain (moneyed) individuals were walking around with stacks of these, using them to pay for huge meals at restaurants, etc. Think of it as a $100 bill. This makes the most sense to me. It was the type of money used by people rich enough to hire bodyguards to carry around their money.