Great Ming Treasure Note

As these regions were completely dependent on paper money inflation hit them more severely as their notes could not be converted into a currency based on any intrinsic value, for this reason the Mongols allowed their subjects to continue using copper-alloy cash coins and issued new ones every now and then.

During the last few decades of the Yuan dynasty the inflation caused people to lose their trust in paper money and barter became the most common means of exchange.

[10] The initial series of the Great Ming Tongxing Baochao (大明通行寶鈔, dà míng tōng xíng bǎo chāo) were made of mulberry bark.

All paper notes from this first series of the Great Ming Treasure Note contained the inscription that they were a valid currency issued by the Palace Secretariat (中書省, zhōng shū shěng), other texts explained that forgers would face punishment and those that expose these counterfeiters shall receive a high reward, finally the date of issuance was written with the era name, followed by the year, month, and day.

[10] Contrary to the paper money issued by the Song and Yuan dynasties, the Great Ming Treasure Note didn't have any geographical restrictions imposed upon them, nor did they have an expiration date.

[12] The Great Ming Treasure Note was not backed by any forms of hard currency or reserves and the government never set any limitations on their production.

However, in the year 1380 a new law restricted the replacement of paper notes which were unreadable which caused the people to accept these older banknotes at reduced value.

[15] A proposal was made in 1643 to reintroduce paper money in order to finance the expenditures caused by the difficult situation that the Ming dynasty faced at the time confronted by the rebel Li Zicheng.

During the occupation a number of European soldiers of the Eight-Nation Alliance had overthrown a sacred image of Gautama Buddha in the Summer Palace which uncovered a large number of gold and silver ingots alongside various gems and jewelry and a bundle of 1 guàn Great Ming Treasure Note banknotes, as these European soldiers were happy with the gems and precious metals they acquired they handed the bundle of banknotes to US Army Surgeon Major Louis Livingston Seaman, who was a bystander and only unofficially present.

One of these banknotes was reproduced as a lithographic facsimile in the book The Trade and Administration of the Chinese Empire written by Hosea Ballou Morse.