Silver ingot
Silver ingot
CC BY-SA 4.0
Silver ingot
CC BY-SA 4.0
Silver ingot
CC BY-SA 4.0
Silver ingot
CC BY-SA 4.0
The silver ingot (yuanbao 元寶) in the photo dates from the Mongol Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), when paper money printed on bamboo fibres or mulberry bark was the main currency in circulation. Coins from the Yuan Dynasty period are relatively rare, not only because of this predominance of paper money, but also because they were minted on a much smaller scale in this dynasty than in others. In addition, a two-metal monetary system developed during the Yuan period. While bronze and brass coins were used in everyday commerce, silver or silver ingots in the form of a kind of boat were used for long-distance trade or payment of large sums. The specimen in the photo is one of these silver ingots. (MG)
Material description: silver
Manufacturing technique: copper alloy casting
Dimensions: length: 28 mm, width: 19 mm, height: 15 mm
No. of parts: 1
Current owner: Slovene Ethnographic Museum
Date of the last acquisition: 1963
Previous owners and periods of ownership: Ivan Skušek, Jr. and Tsuneko Kondō Kawase - Marija Skušek, National Museum of Slovenia, Slovene Ethnographic Museum
Object condition, handling and damage: well preserved
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