Talk:Yuan (currency)/Archives/2014

Latest comment: 16 years ago by Sivasova in topic Peso?

Peso?

I have been trying to find a source which agrees with the assertion here that the Mexican Peso was used as the standard of value for the Yuan, but other than the statement here, in this article, I can find no references to support this viewpoint. Could others help me to confirm this fact, if fact it is, or to find a proper refutation? -- Jolliette Alice Bessette,   -- 23:20, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

For a reference that you can cite, try looking for books on Chinese economic history at the nearest university library. The term "yuan" referred to the Mexican (originally, Spanish) dollar (silver peso). The British East India Company traded to Canton regularly in the 18th century and it paid for its purchases at Canton (the only Chinese port open to foreign trade after 1757) with Spanish Carolus dollars. By 1840 the dollar (peso) had become the standard coin in the Canton trade and was relatively common in China south of the Yangtze.Sivasova (talk) 15:09, 17 January 2008 (UTC)