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*''Japanese'': 両 ''(ryou)''
The tael was a Chinese unit of weight, and a denomination of silver, equivalent to 1.3 ounces. Though not widely used within Japan, the tael was, for a time, widely exchanged and widely accepted amongst most major maritime powers in the world. Though known as a ''ryô'' in Japanese, using the same [[kanji|character]] for the [[currency|Japanese gold ''ryô'']], the two are actually unrelated in weight and value.
Taels were exchanged either as bank notes, in silver bars or ingots measured by weight, or in coin, often Mexican silver dollars, which were likewise widely traded in the early modern period.
The [[British East India Company]] pegged the tael at five shillings<ref>Four shillings equaling £1.</ref> and as equivalent to one Japanese ''ryô''.<ref>Screech, Timon. "Owning Edo-Period Paintings." in Lillehoj, Elizabeth (ed.) ''Acquisition: Art and Ownership in Edo-Period Japan''. Floating World Editions, 2007. p30.</ref>
==References==
*"[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/580168/tael tael]." ''Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online''. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2011. Accessed 12 December 2011.
<references/>
[[Category:Economics]]
The tael was a Chinese unit of weight, and a denomination of silver, equivalent to 1.3 ounces. Though not widely used within Japan, the tael was, for a time, widely exchanged and widely accepted amongst most major maritime powers in the world. Though known as a ''ryô'' in Japanese, using the same [[kanji|character]] for the [[currency|Japanese gold ''ryô'']], the two are actually unrelated in weight and value.
Taels were exchanged either as bank notes, in silver bars or ingots measured by weight, or in coin, often Mexican silver dollars, which were likewise widely traded in the early modern period.
The [[British East India Company]] pegged the tael at five shillings<ref>Four shillings equaling £1.</ref> and as equivalent to one Japanese ''ryô''.<ref>Screech, Timon. "Owning Edo-Period Paintings." in Lillehoj, Elizabeth (ed.) ''Acquisition: Art and Ownership in Edo-Period Japan''. Floating World Editions, 2007. p30.</ref>
==References==
*"[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/580168/tael tael]." ''Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online''. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2011. Accessed 12 December 2011.
<references/>
[[Category:Economics]]
