China and the End of Global Silver, 1873-1937

In the late nineteenth century, as much of the world adopted some variant of the gold standard, China remained the most populous country still using silver. Yet China had no unified national currency; there was not one monetary standard but many. Silver coins circulated alongside chunks of silver and every transaction became an "encounter of wits."

China and the End of Global Silver, 1873-1937 focuses on how officials, policy makers, bankers, merchants, academics, and journalists in China a...