China, for centuries past, has been a most interesting field for research in every branch of science. By virtue of its enormous size, the high degree of its civilisation-*- dating from prehistoric times—its attainments in the fine arts and the characteristic industry and culture of its people, the country has been made the subject of close investigation. There is scarcely a branch of science which has not been minutely examined and described by the investigator of things Chinese. Reference works have been written in almost all foreign tongues, on the literature, the language and the arts of China. Publications setting forth the country’s mineral resources, its means of communications and its trade, are numerous and often of a high standard of merit. But there is a noticeable lack of authoritative literature on China’s currency—a subject which is equally important to the country and to the world at large, and which compensates for its many intricacies by the very great interest and practical value attaching to so fascinating a topic.