Historical Sketch

The Tibetan state existed since about the 7th century and gradually came under Chinese influence in the 18th century. In 1792, it was militarily subjugated and placed under a protectorate. After the fall of the Chinese monarchy in 1911, Tibet gained independence with British support, which was not recognized by the Chinese government. When China consolidated after the end of the Japanese occupation and the subsequent civil war, Tibet was occupied in 1950 and annexed the following year.

Monetary History Overview

Since the 16th century, Tibet's monetary economy had been based on Nepalese silver coinage in the Indian tola weight standard. In the 1760s, the inflow of the Nepalese coins ceased, and a local coin production began. The hammered pieces corresponding to the Nepalese Mohar were referred to as "Tangka". In 1792, China defeated Tibet and established a protectorate. The Chinese Tael was introduced as weight standard, referred to in Tibetan as Srang. New silver coins were produced but did not gain acceptance in the market. In the mid-1830s the minting of the traditional Tangka was resumed, but also their acceptance was fading due to increased debasing. As a consequence, higher quality British Indian silver coins flew into Tibet and quickly dominated payment transactions. In early 20th century, imitations of Rupee coins were produced in Western China, commonly referred to as "Sichuan Rupees, again with gradually reduced silver content.

In 1909, Tibetan carried out a monetary reform and introduced the Tibetan Srang as national currency. It corresponded to the Chinese silver Tael. In 1913, the government began issuing paper money, subsidiary coins were produced in debased silver and copper. In the 1920, a gold coin of nominally 20 Srang was issued for foreign trade. In the political uncertainty following the death of the 13th Dalai Lama in 1933, the government issued more and more paper money, so that the value of the currency declined.

In 1950, China re-occupied Tibet which had attained independence after the fall of the Qing monarchy. The monetary situation was not changed before the Chinese currency reform of 1955. The minting of Tibetan silver coins was stopped, but paper money continued to be issued. The Chinese Yuan was introduced in July 1957, and the Tibetan paper money was demonetized until August 1959.

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