Silver Price in Chinese Yuan

The Chinese yuan (CNY) is the national accounting unit of the China. The Renminbi is the true name of the currency used in China. The term yuan in Chinese means a lump of silver or round coin.Yuan is a Chinese term for money in general. The Chinese refer to other currencies as yuan, too, for example the US yuan and the Swiss yuan are the US dollar and Swiss Franc.

The Chinese yuan was adopted in 1889 at a par of 1:1 with the silver Mexican peso. The Yuan replaced a mix of copper coins. The extensive circulation of Spanish coins in the Asia region was a result of the proximity of the Spanish colonies in Phillipines and Guam. The yuan was divisible into 1000 wen, 100 fen and 10 jiao. Silver coins were produced at various regional mints in denominations of 5 fen, 1,2 and 5 jiao and 1 yuan. Copper was used for minting Wen coins.

In 1903 the Chinese government began to issue copper and silver coins using an identical decimal system. The silver yuan shared similar specifications with the United States silver dollar. The lowest denominations were eventually coined with nickel and aluminum, replacing copper as the main component. The central government and local banks also printed banks notes.

In the 1930′s the yuan suffered a reduction in its use among the population due to the Japanese occupation of Indo-China. Possession and circulation of silver yuan was prohibited. The yuan has not been minted with or backed by gold or silver since then.

The Japanese occupation and its puppet governments within China all issued assorted bank notes which received little approval by the people. The customs gold units issued by the Chinese were printed and circulated along with the yuan and were not backed by gold or silver. After World War II ended China endured hyperinflation and in 1948 introduced the gold yuan as a new currency at a value of three million old yuan. The gold yuan had no link to physical gold. When communist rebel forces captured China they imposed a new paper yuan in 1948. This was replaced by the new yuan, or renminbi in 1955, which is the official currency of China today.

Silver prices in Chinese yuan hover around the ¥200 per ounce mark.

China began issuing collector’s gold and silver bullion 1982. The most popular coin is the gold Panda, available in weights of 1/20, 1/10, 1/4, 1/2 and 1 troy ounce. It is also available in silver, and its design changes every year.