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The American Bank Note Company and the Customs Gold Units of 1930 UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-2007 Printing China's gold: The American bank note company and the customs gold units of 1930 Mark David Miller University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Miller, Mark David, "Printing China's gold: The American bank note company and the customs gold units of 1930" (2007). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 2250. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/fqtp-unfg This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PRINTING CHINA’S GOLD: THE AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY AND THE CUSTOMS GOLD UNITS OF 1930 by Mark David Miller Bachelor of Science University of Missouri, Columbia 1978 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts Degree in History Department of History College of Liberal Arts Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas December 2007 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 1452262 Copyright 2008 by Miller, Mark David All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform 1452262 Copyright 2008 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 E. Eisenhower Parkway PC Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Copyright by Mark David Miller 2008 Ail Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Thesis Approval The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas OCTOBER 15 2^07 The Thesis prepared by MARK D. MILLER Entitled PRINTING CHINA'S GOLD: THE AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY AND THE CUSTOMS GOLD UNITS OF 19 30 is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirem ents for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY ./wi I '.MiiHiiHition Cdiiiiiiillir Chajy Lh'iiii (if llic Criiiliiiih' Colli'i I'.xntiiiiiiilioiiii'oijniiillçv h/l/^iilvr i'xniiiiiiiiHoii Coiiiitiiilcc M cijilvr Cnidunlc Cii//i'gr Fuailtf/ Rçpirsi'iitiitin' I'K /1(117 V ,/l (III Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Printing China’s Gold: The American Bank Note Company and the Customs Gold Units of 1930 by Mark David Miller Dr. Sue Fawn Chung, Examination Committee Chair Associate Professor of History University of Nevada, Las Vegas In 1928, T V. Soong headed the new Central Bank of China to pursue monetary reform, redeem bad debts, negotiate with foreign powers in monetary matters, and increase customs revenue. The new Nanjing government, headed by Jiang Jishi (Chiang Kai-shek), his brother-in-law, realized the importance of close ties between government and banking through the 1930s and 1940s and involved the United States in their banking affairs. This thesis investigates the activities of the Central Bank of China in the early twentieth century. Within the broad spectrum of banking, this work focuses on the issuance of certain bank notes by the Chinese government and the participation of an American printing company in that process. This study will also explore China’s motivations and attempt to collect its customs revenues on a gold basis. Using newly discovered private archival material, it will further examine the issuance of Customs Gold Units in 1930. The result of this study will enrich readers about a unique Sino- III Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. American relationship between a domestic central bank and a foreign bank note printer against the larger economic relationship between the two countries and the world. IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT......................................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..........................................................................................................vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................1 Methodology ............................................................................................................................... 2 Scholarly Works.........................................................................................................................5 Organization .................................................................................................................................9 CHAPTER 2 THE SINO-JAPANESE WAR DEBT ........................................................ 11 CHAPTER 3 THE DEBT RISES—THE BOXER INDEMNITY .................................16 CHAPTER 4 FURTHER IMPEDIMENTS TO FINANCIAL SOLVENCY; LIKIN AND OTHER FORMS OF INTERNAL TAXATION ...............20 CHAPTER 5 CHINA’S POLITICAL UNIFICATION AND THE EFFORTS OF SUN FO ................................................................................... 26 CHAPTER 6 THE AMERICAN FINANCIAL EXPERTS.............................................36 CHAPTER 7 INVESTIGATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF FINANCIAL REFORMS......................................................................... 45 CHAPTER 8 THE AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY ........................................ 55 CHAPTER 9 AFTERMATH ..................................................................................................74 CHAPTER 10 CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................. 81 APPENDIX.......................................................................................................................................85 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Share of Manchuria and North China’s Customs Revenue ............................................. 85 Allocation of the Sino-Japanese War Indemnity ................................................................85 Boxer Indemnity Owed By China ........................................................................................ 86 Foreign Enterprises in China—1924 ...................................................................................... 87 The Amount of Unfavorable Trade Balance as Shown in the Customs Report 88 Combined Maritime and Native Customs Revenues.........................................................88 Rates of Exchange, 1926 to Date ...........................................................................................89 Average Rates of Exchange, 1926 to Date ..........................................................................89 Gold Currencies Conversion Rate For Custom Gold Units (CGU)................................90 ABNC 1858 Association ........................................................................................................ 91 Historical Evolution of American Bank Note Company..................................................92 ABNC Shipment of Custom Gold Units .............................................................................. 93 Rates of Exchange Average Bank’s Telegraphic/Transfer Selling Rates ....................101 Customs Notification Number 1209................................................................................. 102 Customs Notification Number 1170................................................................................... 103 Customs Notification Number 1171................................................................................... 103 Customs Notification Number II73................................................................................... 104 Customs Notification Number 1176................................................................................... 104 Customs Notification Number 1177................................................................................... 105 Customs Notification Number 1178................................................................................... 105 15-page Record of First CGU Shipment from ABNC .....................................................106 Photograph of Sun F o ............................................................................................................121
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