Those who have watched the TV series of the Republic of China must be deeply impressed by the gold recognized by many forces. Whether they are traitors, spies, warlords or bandits, Huangtiao, also commonly known as the little yellow croaker, has always been their most recognized currency. The reason is naturally not difficult to understand. The so-called antiques in prosperous times and gold in troubled times. In the Republic of China where warlords were fighting, gold was naturally the hard currency that best preserved its value and had the strongest purchasing power.
Gold bars of the Republic of China
During the Republic of China, due to the chaotic financial policies of the Kuomintang, whether it was the legal currency during the Anti-Japanese War or the gold yuan bonds during the Liberation War, the depreciation rate was jaw-dropping. Countless The people's life savings were wiped out. Therefore, during times of turmoil, wealthy families will keep two or three small yellow croakers on hand, while ordinary families will stockpile silver coins of lower value in case of emergencies.
At the beginning of the 20th century, most countries in the world, especially the major powers, had already begun to use gold as their standard currency. Therefore, gold trading was also very active, and Shanghai Beach even became one of the world’s The third largest gold trading market.
Shanghai during the Republic of China
Although the Nationalist government banned the market trading of gold and silver as early as 1935 and required all exchanges into legal tender, due to the Kuomintang’s poor monetary policy and low Especially after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, inflation in the Kuomintang-ruled areas was extremely serious and the legal currency depreciated rapidly. Therefore, the Kuomintang's ban was never fully implemented.
Gold, also commonly known as "yellow croaker", has always been the strongest and most recognized equivalent among the people. The raw material of the small yellow croaker was gold bricks imported from the United States. After being cut by the Central Mint of the National Government at that time, a semi-automatic gold bar rolling machine was used to make gold bars of different weights.
Gold bars of the Republic of China
According to the traditional Chinese measurement unit, gold bars are based on the basic unit of weight. Generally speaking, gold bars are divided into three types, namely twelve taels and five taels. and one or two. Of course, there are also other specifications such as half volume. For ordinary people, gold bars of one or two weights are generally called small yellow croakers, and gold bars of ten or two weights are naturally large yellow croakers. Gold bars made by the Central Mint will be embossed with the words Central Mint, date, etc.
Most of the gold bars during the Republic of China were produced between 1945 and 1949. After the Kuomintang was defeated in Taiwan, it also transported a large amount of gold bars stored in its vaults to Taiwan, and these huge amounts of gold bars became the basis for Taiwan's subsequent economic development. So, how much are these little yellow croakers worth?
We all know that before the use of the metric system, the old Chinese system weighed 16 taels per catty, so there was also a saying among the people that it was half a catty or eight taels. Therefore, one tael of gold bars at that time was roughly equivalent to 31 grams in today's unit. Therefore, a small yellow croaker, that is, a gold bar of one tael, is 31 grams of gold, and a large yellow croaker, that is, a gold bar of 10 taels, is naturally 310 grams.
Little yellow croaker
Nowadays, the price of gold has been hovering around 270 yuan per gram. Therefore, if the value of yellow croaker is simply calculated based on the gold price, the price of one tael of small yellow croaker is about 8,370 yuan, while the price of large yellow croaker is about 8,370 yuan. The yellow croaker is naturally 83,700 yuan.
Of course, it is unreasonable to calculate the value of small yellow croaker in this way. As a gold bar cast during the Republic of China, yellow croaker itself has a certain collection value. Therefore, its actual value is much higher than the gold price calculation. As shown in the picture, some collectors offer a small yellow croaker twice the value of the gold itself.
Little yellow croaker
As an undoubted hard currency, the purchasing power of small yellow croaker was naturally very strong during the Republic of China. It is said that during the Republic of China, one small yellow croaker could buy two acres of fertile land, and 3 to 5 small yellow croakers could buy a small courtyard house in Beijing.
Of course, the price of courtyard houses in Beijing is sky-high nowadays. If one courtyard house costs 100 million yuan, it is equivalent to the value of 12,000 small yellow croakers during the Republic of China. However, the value of houses in prosperous times and troubled times is not comparable.
Beijing Siheyuan
According to statistics, as of March 1949, the Kuomintang Communist Party had produced 1.11 million gold contracts of various weights, weighing approximately 1.53 million taels. However, after the Kuomintang's defeat in Taiwan, most of the gold bars were taken to Taiwan, and not many gold bars remained in the mainland.
Moreover, most of the gold bars left on the mainland have been recycled and melted by banks. Therefore, the number of gold bars stored among the people is very rare. Coupled with the specific historical period of the gold bars, the small yellow croaker has also become the most popular among collectors. One of my favorite collections. Its value cannot simply be measured in terms of money.