Changes

For much of the pre-modern period, the Chinese economy ran on a combination of [[silver]] and [[copper]] coins. Coins were minted in China since at least the 4th century BCE, originally in a knife-like shape, acquiring a standard form of a circular coin with a square hole in the center from the [[Han Dynasty]] onwards. Though there was a unified standard of bronze coins up until the [[Song Dynasty]] ([[960]]-[[1279]]), the economy grew so large at that time, and demand for coin grew so great, that China shifted to multiple concurrent systems, using bronze/copper coins alongside unminted silver and paper money ("[[flying cash]]"), which was first developed and circulated in the early 11th century.

For much of the pre-modern period, the Chinese economy ran on a combination of [[silver]] and [[copper]] coins. Coins were minted in China since at least the 4th century BCE, originally in a knife-like shape, acquiring a standard form of a circular coin with a square hole in the center from the [[Han Dynasty]] onwards. Though there was a unified standard of bronze coins up until the [[Song Dynasty]] ([[960]]-[[1279]]), the economy grew so large at that time, and demand for coin grew so great, that China shifted to multiple concurrent systems, using bronze/copper coins alongside unminted silver and paper money ("[[flying cash]]"), which was first developed and circulated in the early 11th century.

Silver was used for large purchases, while copper was used for smaller purchases. The Chinese government minted massive numbers of coins, especially in the [[Song Dynasty]], in such large amounts (several hundred million coins over the course of the dynasty)<ref>Richard von Glahn, "The Ningbo-Hakata Merchant Network and the Reorientation of East Asian Maritime Trade, 1150-1350," ''Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies''  74:2 (2014), 251.</ref> that they came to be widely used throughout the region, and survive in great numbers today, going back even as far as the Han Dynasty.

Silver was used for large purchases, while copper was used for smaller purchases. The Chinese government minted massive numbers of coins, especially in the [[Song Dynasty]], in such large amounts (several hundred billion coins over the course of the dynasty)<ref>Richard von Glahn, "The Ningbo-Hakata Merchant Network and the Reorientation of East Asian Maritime Trade, 1150-1350," ''Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies''  74:2 (2014), 251.</ref> that they came to be widely used throughout the region, and survive in great numbers today, going back even as far as the Han Dynasty.

==Copper==

==Copper==