中國歷史上貨幣使用的種類除了貝殼、銅、鐵之外，也以珍貴的金屬鑄造出的錠，如銀錠 (sycees)當貨幣流通。在西元九世紀初期的唐朝發展出一種票券叫做飛錢(flying money)，因票券的質量非常的輕盈，如不小心就有被風吹走之虞，故得其名。飛錢不是紙鈔，遠行的商人只需要把銀兩在辦事處兑换成票券，並把存款收據的票根拿到另一指定地點，便可兑换成貨幣。
一直到了北宋時期（西元960-1127年）因為造紙業和印刷業已迅速發展，商業貿易繁榮，中國貨幣的流通開始有了質量較輕的紙鈔(paper money)，這是中國最早（西元1011年）也是全世界最早發行的紙幣叫做“交子”。最先在四川一帶由“富民十六户主”發行使用，這些商人在紙鈔上暗藏標記，以此代替鐵錢，當時“交子”的使用也促使了“交子舖”的設置，交子舖就像現今的銀行一樣，專門為商人保管現鈔，並可從中收取一定的保管费用。
友誼網頁連結
- Valerie Hansen's The Open Empire: A History of China to 1600 (published in New York by W. W. Norton in 2000) has a discussion of early banking and currency developments on pages 261-272. You can use Worldcat.org to search for this book in English or in a Chinese version.
- The NOVA documentary television program in the United states mentions the year 806 as the first year for paper currency in their history of money page.
- The Computersmiths have a page about the history of paper money in China.
- The National Numismatic Collection suggests that the Chinese may have had paper money as early as the seventh century, but such a date is not widely recognized by the authorities we've consulted.
友誼網頁連結
- Valerie Hansen's The Open Empire: A History of China to 1600 (published in New York by W. W. Norton in 2000) has a discussion of early banking and currency developments on pages 261-272. You can use Worldcat.org to search for this book in English or in a Chinese version.
- The NOVA documentary television program in the United states mentions the year 806 as the first year for paper currency in their history of money page.
- The Computersmiths have a page about the history of paper money in China.
- The National Numismatic Collection suggests that the Chinese may have had paper money as early as the seventh century, but such a date is not widely recognized by the authorities we've consulted.