Silver in ancient China was very rare and precious due to the lack of rich domestic mines at that time. Silver deposits usually were found in the same ore bodies as minerals such as quartz, lead, and antimony, and the technology for refining and purifying silver was not mastered until the Tang Dynasty, a much later date than that for copper.
Silver ingots were a major form of currency in Chinese history for a period of more than a thousand years. Silver was not the only precious metal used in ancient China (as a matter of fact, it was relatively more valuable then than now) but was also taken as an exchange media, e.g., Money. People used cash coins for smaller transactions and ingots for bigger ones. Therefore, ingots were considered the money of the rich and some of the poor never saw an ingot in their lifetime.
Silver in ancient China was very rare and precious due to the lack of rich domestic mines at that time. Silver deposits usually were found in the same ore bodies as minerals such as quartz, lead, and antimony, and the technology for refining and purifying silver was not mastered until the Tang Dynasty, a much later date than that for copper.
Silver ingots were a major form of currency in Chinese history for a period of more than a thousand years. Silver was not the only precious metal used in ancient China (as a matter of fact, it was relatively more valuable then than now) but was also taken as an exchange media, e.g., Money. People used cash coins for smaller transactions and ingots for bigger ones. Therefore, ingots were considered the money of the rich and some of the poor never saw an ingot in their lifetime.
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