Qik

Qik
益
Current coins
ISO 4217
Code	RNG
Denominations
Subunit
​1⁄100	分
Symbol	Rg.
分	¢
Banknotes
Freq. used	Rg. 1, Rg. 2, Rg. 5, Rg. 10, Rg. 20, Rg. 50, Rg. 100
Rarely used	Rg. 500, Rg. 1,000, Rg. 5,000, Rg. 10,000
Coins
Freq. used	2¢, 5¢, 10¢, 20¢, 50¢
Rarely used	½¢, 1¢
Demographics
Date of introduction	Antiquity
User(s)	Themiclesia
Issuance
Central bank	Central Bank of Themiclesia
Valuation
Inflation	2.12%
Source	2016 est.

The qik (益, qik) is the name of the currency of Themiclesia and was until 1952 the official coin of account. In translation, it is also known as the gold catty or Themiclesian gold mark. Formerly based on the gold standard, it was defined in 1879 as ​⁴⁸⁄₁₂₅ of the standard kilogram or 12.3459 troy oz. After decimalization in 1947 – 1952, the coin of account was abolished in favour of a new circulating coin the rang, which is divided into 100 cents, though the name of the coin of account remains that of the currency.  

Etymology

Natively, the "catty" 斤 (krem) is distinct from the "gold catty", written 益 (qik). Both are derivatives of the same basic unit, the Themiclesian tael (㒳, rang), but the catty is 16 taels, while the gold catty is 20 taels. The gold catty was used as a unit to measure the mass of gold and thereby also the value of other moneys or goods, but not their weight. The term "Themiclesian gold mark" was used in some commercial contexts but is no longer common; it is derived from the mark as a unit of comparable mass, not the Ostlandic currency of the same name.

The Shinasthana term for currency, nhwrar (貨), means "things for exchange, merchandise".

History

Gold bullion

1 qik gold coins

As an inherited unit of mass and account from Menghe, the gold catty has persisted, if only in name, from the Classical Period. Until the 17th century, gold lumps and bronze coin were co-official. Exchange rates were periodically altered by order, though an independent market rate typically existed alongside the government rate used for taxation. Native Themiclesian gold originated from only a few locations and was not very common until the opening of the Maracaibean trade in 694. As the Vitric peoples there undervalued gold and liberally exchanged it for Themiclesian fabrics, weapons, and vessels. The influx of Vitric gold encouraged the growth of cities and created an alterative government income from agricultural taxes paid in kind.

Gold was, since Antiquity, the main medium for large transactions, but bronze coins (even thousands of them) were still dominant in local contexts. In several periods, the mining of gold was a royal monopoly. In 281, gold pieces for circulation were first cast by the government mint. Prior to this time, gold was traded by weight. Early coins were heavy by modern standards; the mint and its master were engraved into the mould. Privately cast coins also circulated. There were two standard sizes of gold coin—one qik and ​¹⁄₄ qik, weighing about 383 g and 96 g respectively, the former shaped like a saucer, and the latter, a bar. It is uncertain if these coins saw much circulation, as historian B. Gro observes, "large minted coins are mentioned early exclusively in the context of international bribery." Emperor ′An of Mrāngs (r. 734 – 737) boasted that he had "6,666​²⁄₃ qik in the treasury" (有之府大萬益).

Gold coin

1 tael gold coin c. 920

Other gold coins of fixed weight and appearance are attributed to the monetary reforms in 752, an economically prosperous period in Themiclesia. As trade with Hallians and Meridians merchants intensified, so did the requirement of a standard coin of dependable weight and fineness. The Themiclesian court starting in 771 minted the gold one-tael piece, weighing between 19.1 – 19.25 g; though marked as "pure gold tael" (屯黃金㒳), its fineness fluctuated between 92% and 97.5%, generally improving over time. There is some dispute whether this was intially minted as a trade coin, since domestic finds dating to the 8th century are rare.

The one-tael piece saw international recognition in the Meridian ocean and has been recovered in shipwrecks in the region. Between the late 8th century and the 16th century, the one-tael gold piece and bronze coins were the most widely-circulated Themiclesian coins of precious metal, until overtaken by the silver Themiclesian dollar. It has been discovered as far as Reberiya and Anglia and Lechernt.

Whatever the initial purpose of this coin, it gradually supplanted the trade of gold bullion over the 8th century, leading the government to publish official exchange rates between gold and bronze coins from time to time. In 855, a single one tael piece exchanged for 200 large bronze coins weighing 1.5 taels (36 twa), reflecting a 1:320 value difference by weight; such an exchange rate considerably overvalued gold by standards of that time.

Silver coinage

Due to trade with Sylva, which brought silver from its colonies, that metal was monetized in the 1500s. As the gold-silver ration in Themiclesia was about 1:8, Themiclesia became a net exporter of gold in the Meridian trade with Casaterrans from about 1520, causing alarm in court. It banned the importation of silver to force Sylvan merchants to import gold instead, but this was impossible to enforce on the high seas and succeeded only in creating a black market, which caused a depression in revenues. In 1545, a source of silver was found and monetized in metropolitan Themiclesia, though the gold export did not abate until exchange rates were brought in line with the international norm. By some estimates, Themiclesia lost about 30 – 40% of its gold within the space of 30 years.

Themiclesia struck silver coins regularly between the 1500s and the 1950s. Early in the era, some coins were struck with the value of the coin in gold, while others were struck with only its weight in silver. The "pure silver value in pure gold" (屯銀金直屯黃) markings disappeared soon after silver coinage became dominant, as the relative values of the two metals fluctuated, causing the markings to become obsolete and prone to dispute. The Sylvan dollar, the most recognized coin internationally, was approximated by a similar domestic coin in 1577 weighing 305 grains (24.4 g) fine silver; the coin usually traded for 20 grains gold and is now known numismatically as the Themiclesian Dollar. It was convenient as twelve of them were usually exchanged for the gold one tael piece, and by extension, 240 equalled 1 qik gold, the principal coin of account. Additionally, the coin was interchangeable with the Sylvan dollar and easily circulated abroad. The Themiclesian dollar and its derivatives gained widespread domestic acceptance and was not superseded until decimalization.

Soon after the monetization of silver, bronze lost its status as a valuable metal but remained in use as coinage. Existing bronze coinage was never demonetized, but their place in transactions was slowly supplanted by small silver coins, which were easier to carry and conceal. Despite representing a quantity of gold, the inscription on bronze coins bears out the weight of the coin in bronze, and not the amount of gold the bronze coin is valued as. Thus, the Two-Thirds (泰半) piece nominally weighed ​²⁄₃ of a tael or 12.8 g, but this was reduced to 8 g without altering the text on the coin. Regardless of the actual weight of the coin or the text upon it, the ​²⁄₃-tael traded as ​2 ¹⁄₃ grain in gold prior to decimalization. The mass of the bronze coin, being less important, became the name of the piece.

Decimalization

Internationally prior to the 19th century, currencies with decimal sub-units existed but were not prevalent. At the conclusion of 17th century, Themiclesia's bimetallic currency was characterized by a statutory conversion rate between the metals, usually 1 unit gold to 15 or 16 units silver. Silver coins were denominated in their value in units of gold, so the Themiclesian Dollar, the major trade coin, was usually worth 2 twa gold, and 12 Dollars (worth 24 twa) made one rang; fractions of the Dollar as well as bronze coins were likewise denominated in units of gold, which was 20 qu. Thus, each gold rang was divisible into 24 twa or 480 qu.

Demands for decimalization surfaced in the middle of the 19th century, with the argument that the existing counting system was based on units of gold bullion and not suitable for quick arithmetics. There were many competing schemes of decimalizations, some taking advantage of the fact that the divisions of the twa was vigesimal, i.e. base-20, so the consolidation of two of its sub-units would create a decimal system. This would, however, require the abolition of the principal unit of account, the gold rang, and so was not favoured by those who tended to see the Themiclesian Dollar as a sub-unit of the gold rang; furthermore, as the international norm was shifting towards the gold standard in the 19th century, voices favouring the abolition of the Dollar and trade in decimal units of the rang also intensified.

A thorny issue facing decimalization based on the rang is the wholesale replacement of the entire coinage, since all coins smaller than it were in fractions of 24 rather than 10, so 0.1 rang would represent 2.4 twa. While it is possible to assemble 2.4 twa with, for example, a 2 twa coin and two 2 qu coins, this process would have to be carried out for virtually every coin when decimal currency is to be adopted; additionally, very small coins would be difficult to convert into new money due to the want of proportionally smaller coins. Such replacement would have monumental consequences for the cash economy, since even a conservative estimate would suggest 95% of all transactions were conducted with coins to be affected, and with not banknotes or coins not affected by this scheme.

It was in the 1930s when consensus arose within the government to decimalize the coinage in the manner it was eventually done, at the recommendation of the Exchequer. The scheme required the rang itself to be redenominated as 20 instead of 24 twa, whose value stayed constant, so that each rang contained 400 instead of 480 qu; since 400 is divisible by 100, each rang could then be easily divided into 100 subunits, and as a result, a large share of existing coins could be retained and traded with equivalents in new denominations. The revised rang was to be written as "currency rang" (行金㒳) to distinguish it from the older rang used for trading gold by weight, which still contained 24 twa. Additionally, objects of large value would not have their written prices altered dramatically, which was feared to stoke public uncertainty.

However, decimalization was repeatedly delayed by the Pan-Septentrion War, during which it was deemed unwise to launch a major currency reform, and the government only announced in 1945 that the it would proceed. Actions first occurred in 1947 with the withdrawal of the ¼ qu coin, which was too small to be of practical use and difficult to harmonize with the new system; the 5 qu coin, which would be valued at an inconvenient 1.125 per in the new system, was withdrawn in the same year. In Jul. 1948, the 8 qu coin was introduced, intended to be traded as the new 2 per denomination after decimalization. At the same time, coins with both old and new denominations went into circulation. "Changeover Day" ocurred on Jan. 1, 1952 when all banks were to convert their records into the new system and provide money in new demonations.

As it could be seen, 4 qu became 1 per in the new system; smaller coins (2, 1, and ½ qu) were retained as binary, rather than decimal, fractions of the per. Efforts to find decimal equivalents for them without causing major difficulties had been futile, and it was anticipated that rising prices would soon render such fractions obsolete. To some extent that anticipation was correct, and the ⅛ and ¼ per coins were withdrawn in 1960 and 1988 respectively, but the ½ per remains in circulation today. Thus, Themiclesian money is today not completely decimal, it being possible to have a half-per in prices.

Old denom.		Metal	Mass (g)	Diam. (mm)	Height (mm)	New denom.	Notes
4 twa		50% Silver	53.6	46.6	3	20 per	Same weight and dimensions
3 twa			40.2	42.8	2.7	Rare, withdrawn 1952
2 twa	Silver Dollar		26.8	38.4	2.2	10 per	Same weight and dimensions
1 twa	Half-dollar		13.4	30.8	1.7	5 per	Same weight and dimensions
10 qu	Quarter-dollar		6.7	24	1.5	2.5 per	Same weight and dimensions, withdrawn 1955
8 qu			5.4	22	1.4	2 per	New coin, introduced 1948
5 qu	Eighth-dollar		3.4	18.4	1.2	Withdrawn 1947
4 qu			2.7	18	1	1 per	Same weight and dimensions
2 qu			1.3	13.4	0.9	1/2 per	Same weight and dimensions
1 qu		Bronze	18.2	36	2	1/4 per	Same weight and dimensions
1/2 qu			9.1	28	1.65	1/8 per	Same weight and dimensions, withdrawn 1960
1/4 qu			4.6	23	1.3	Withdrawn 1947

Debasement and downsizing

Citing the rising prices of silver, the government debased all circulating silver coins from 50% fine to 25% fine in 1961, and then from 25% fine to 10% fine in 1965. In 1971, silver ceased to be coined, and all coins were then strick in cupronickel, which mimicked the appearance of silver. Due to the lower density of each succeeding metal, newer coins increased in size such that each coin retained its weight; this was because many institutions tallied large quantities of coins with a coin scale, which required the masses of coins be proportional to their values.

Notation

Pre-decimalization

The notation of the qik prior to decimalization in 1879 is governed by common usage.

• 3 mace, being ​¹⁄₈ of a tael, was noted as ／, the top half of the symbol for 6 mace.
• 6 mace, being ​¹⁄₄ of a tael, was noted as く, being one third of the shorthand for ​³⁄₄ of a tael (viz. below).
• 8 mace, being ​¹⁄₃ of a tael, was noted as 少 sm′aw, shorthand for 少半㒳, smaw-prān-rang or "smaller division of a tael".
• 12 mace, being ​¹⁄₂ of a tael, was noted as 平 bring, sort for 平半㒳, bring-prān-rang or "even division of a tael".
• 16 mace, being ​²⁄₃ of a tael, was noted as 大 lats, short for 大半㒳, lats-prān-rang or "larger division of a tael".
• 18 mace, being ​³⁄₄ of a tael, was noted as 巛, being the top half of the character 甾, which originally meant 6 mace.

Thus, 1 tael and 8 mace would be written as 㒳小, short for 㒳又少半㒳, "tael and smaller division of a tael". 150 qik, 19 tael, and 18 mace would be noted as 百又五十益又十又九㒳巛, "hundred and fifty qik and ten and nine rang and eighteen mace".

• 16 taels was written as 金 krem or "gold". This practice was common in the jewellery business, which also writes 艮 ngul or "silver" to note 16 taels of silver.  krem does not co-exist with qik in notation: 36 taels cannot be expressed as 益又金, "qik and krem", even though their sum is 36 taels.

Anglian-style

It was common in certain trades, though not all and especially not in the accounting profession, to use an Anglian-style notation to specify taels, maces, and grains separated by hyphens.

• 19-23-7 would stand for 19 taels, 23 maces, and 7 grains, i.e. 1 grain short of 1 qik.
• 12-0-7 would stand for 12 taels and 7 grain.
• 0-0-7 would stand for 7 grain.

This kind of notation was never used to specify quantities in qik. After decimalization, the Anglian-style notation remained in use, only reflecting new currency.

• 52-3-2 would stand for 52 new taels, 3 maces, and 2 grains; however, this figure could also be expressed as 52.32 in other trades.

Coins

All coins of the qik are marked for denomination in Shinasthana and in Tyrannian on the reverse.

Denomination	Obverse	Reverse	Diameter	Thickness	Mass	Composition	Edge	Introduced	Value Int'l$ (2022)
½¢	Emperor La's portrait and title, year	Half Cent, spade currency	17.4 mm	1.5 mm	3.19 g	Bronze (97% Cu)	Plain	1952	$0.07
		Half Cent, letter envelope						2017
1¢		One Cent, laurel wreath	23.2 mm	1.7 mm	6.39 g	Bronze	Milled	1948	$0.14
2¢		Two Cent, bridge	30.2 mm	2 mm	12.77 g	Bronze	Milled	1948	$0.27
5¢	Emperor La's portrait and title, year	Five Cent, imperial crown	20.7 mm	1.5 mm	4.5 g	Cupronickel (3 Cu : 1 Ni)	Plain	1952	$0.71
10¢		Ten Cent, shield	27.1 mm	1.75 mm	9 g	Cupronickel	Milled	1948	$1.34
20¢		Twenty Cent, conifer tree	35 mm	2.1 mm	18 g	Cupronickel	Milled	1948	$2.70
50¢	Emperor La's portrait and title, year	Fifty Cent, locomotive	33.3 mm	2.2 mm	19 g	Cupronickel (9 Cu : 1 Ni), bronze (97% Cu)	Plain	1977	$6.65

On Apr. 1, 2017, the National Mint released a new design for the ½¢ piece, for a total of 1,000,000 strikes, replacing the customary spade currency with a letter envelope. This is because the ½¢ coin had not been very useful since 2005, when most retailers eliminated half cents from their prices. After that, half cents were only used to quote prices for gasoline and other bulk materials, even though at purchase it would be rounded up to a full cent. There was a single exception to the elimination of half cents: a single postage stamp for ordinary mail was 1½¢, and so the half cent piece would be given as change at the post office if not provided by the purchaser. Hence, National Post became the only regular user of the half cent piece, prompting the National Mint to release a coin with this use clearly displayed on its reverse. A 33.3% increase in the cost of the stamp was announced in 2022 to be implemented in 2025, bringing up the price of the stamp to 2¢, signalling the likely withdrawal of the half cent piece at that time.

Notes

While all coins are produced by the National Mint, banknotes are issued by a group of six Themiclesian banks, collectively the "issuer banks" (付賈金). Other than the Central Bank of Themiclesia, the five remaining are the Mercantile Bank of Twar, Commercial Bank of Kien-k'ang, Commercial Bank of Rak, Northeastern Bank, and the Associated Bank of Lower Themiclesia. Each bank may privately issue bearer notes with legal tender status, in authorized amounts and denominations, provided an equal amount of money is first deposited with the Central Bank of Themiclesia. The notes issued by each bank, since they are effectively backed by a deposit in the central bank, must be accepted without discrimination between issuers. Additionally, they may also issue banknotes backed by any deposit the central bank makes in their name.

There are two classes of banknotes issued by the Central Bank of Themiclesia; the "Common Notes" (通貨, l′wang-nhw′rar) are notes printed for circulation that have legal tender status for the payment of all debts, and "Conversion Notes" (易貨, liks-nhw′rar) are instruments that back the banknotes issued by civil, mercantile banks. Notes are denominated in rang, except for Conversion Notes which were denominated in qik until decimalization in 1952. Conversion Notes are not legal tender for transactions except between banks and the central bank.

All Themiclesian notes since the 1950 revision of the third series possess the following common features: 75% cotton, 25% silk paper; intaglio printing for denomination, issuer, official seals, images, Guilloché patterns, dots for the visually impaired; reflective metallic foil strip; watermark; ultraviolet text, images, fibres; infrared text and Guilloché patterns; latent text and images; serial number; visible and ultraviolet microscopic print. Convertible Notes possess a very thin layer of silk, woven with special fibres and into patterns with text, around which paper pulp is poured and the substrate formed; these are considerably thicker than notes in general circulation.

Value	Dimensions	Main colour		Obverse portrait	Reverse	Issue year	Int'l$ (2022)	Notes
Rg. 1	180 mm × 80 mm (7.1 in × 3.1 in)		Dark green	Emperor La, current monarch of Themiclesia		2005	$13.35
Rg. 2	185 mm × 85 mm (7.3 in × 3.3 in)		Dark blue	Chief Baron of Ran, prime minister for three times, political reformer		2005	$26.70
Rg. 5	190 mm × 90 mm (7.5 in × 3.5 in)		Dark red	Chief Baron of Sngra, prime minister twice, reformer		2005	$66.79
Rg. 10	195 mm × 90 mm (7.7 in × 3.5 in)		Light green	The Empress Dowager, consort of the late Emperor Sqin		2005	$133.51
Rg. 20	200 mm × 95 mm (7.9 in × 3.7 in)		Light blue	Baron of Krungh, prime minister twice		2005	$267.03
Rg. 50	205 mm × 100 mm (8.1 in × 3.9 in)		Light red	Lord Lram Lwang, prime minister during the Pan-Septentrion War and leader of the National Government		2005	$667.58
Rg. 100	210 mm × 105 mm (8.3 in × 4.1 in)		Gold	Baron of Qik-lang, prime minister		2005	$1,335.15
Rg. 500	210 mm × 105 mm (8.3 in × 4.1 in)	─	Red with single purple stripe	Field Marshall Protector Juhani Sihvo		2009	$6,675.78
Rg. 1,000	210 mm × 105 mm (8.3 in × 4.1 in)	═	Red with double green stripe	Baroness of Pring, first female advocate for abolition of slavery (1766 – 1831)		2010	$13,351.55

Previous issues

Series	Issuer(s)/Theme(s)	Issue/Revisions	Denominations	Stopped issuing	Demonetized	Notes
I	Coastal Bank Mercantile Bank	1817, '54, '61	Notes: €1, €5, €10, €50, €100 Coins: ¼p ⅓p ½p 1p, 2p, 5p, 1₥, 5₥, 10₥, 20₥, 50₥	1872(?)	1950
II	C&C Bank: ships CMC Bank: plants	1870, '80, '95	Notes: €1, €5, €10, €50, €100, €500, €1,000, €5,000, €10,000 Coins: ⅓p ½p 1p, 5p, 1₥, 5₥, 10₥, 50₥	1913	1950
III	CBT: central bank building	1917, '30, '48, '63, '80, '98	Notes: €1, €5, €10, €50, €100, €500, €1,000, €5,000, €10,000 Coins: 1p, 5p, 1₥, 5₥, 10₥, 50₥	2007	Circulating
IV	CBT: prehistoric life	2003, '17	Notes: €1, €5, €10, €50, €100, €500, €1,000, €5,000, €10,000 Coins: 1₥, 5₥, 10₥, 50₥	Current	Circulating

Issues

Debasement and clipping

Themiclesian currency has been subject to debasement and clipping since antiquity. When the value of the coin was supposedly linked to the amount of metal used to make it, lightening the coin by removing some of its metal content (called "clipping") resulted in reduced desirability; carried to the extreme, this led to such difficulties while trading that coins ceased to be liquid at all, even valued for metal content only. Currency made with precious metals were subject to a different measure, debasement, which is the adulteration of precious metal with a less valuable one, usually done without disturbing the mass of the piece to avoid easy detection. While chipping results in lightened currency that may still be accepted due government fiat declaring all recognizable coins to be equal in value, merchants are much less likely to do so for precious metals. Testing for debasement is generally much more difficult than chipping.

Forgery

In the modern age, neither clipping nor debasement prevail, since precious metals are no longer found in currency. The highest denominations, Rg 100, Rg 500, and Rg 1,000 are rarely forged, since their large value prompts merchants to examine them more carefully. Most counterfeit notes are Rg 1 and Rg 2 notes, and in 1988 it was estimated 1 note in 30 may be counterfeit.

Nevertheless, in the 1990s, notes of the Rg 100 and Rg 500 denominations have been subject to intense counterfeiting by a specific group from Yugoslovenski. Such notes were forged in remote places and then exported to money exchanges, and then indirectly converted into the Dinar. The authorities did not initially receive reports of such forgeries, as smaller money exchanges often did not have equipment to check the rare Rg 100 and Rg 500 notes. By 1998, around Rg 1,220,000 in counterfeit had been exchanged, and a roughly equal amount has been withdrawn from the Yugoslovenski treasury. This operation, along with several others, eventually prompted the central bank to issue new notes in 2003, with additional and enhanced security features that addressed many of the weaknesses that allowed the Yugoslovenski forgeries to transpire.

Size issue

When printed in the first half of the 20th century, Themiclesian banknotes (starting at 7.1 in. in length) in normal circulation were not unusually large. However, since many Casaterran states downsized their notes, Themiclesian notes appears large. In Casaterra, large notes were in circulation with smaller ones until the 50s. By 1959, the central bank prepared to shink its notes, but political and economic uncertainty in the 60s, then economic stagnation in the 70s, required the bank to focus elsewhere. By the 90s, Themiclesia was one of few states issuing "large" notes, which sometimes failed to fit into slimmer or shorter wallets.

Higher denominations

While it is technically illegal to refuse a large-denomination note that is legal tender for payment, courts have been lenient if the note offered was unreasonably large for a small debt, or when the purchaser refused to use smaller notes when they were at hand. In addition, courts have also accepted that if the seller did not have sufficient change for a given note, a transaction can be cancelled without penalty. These decisions have been interpreted as permission for small vendors to refuse notes above a given denomination (e.g. Rg 10), to avoid receiving large counterfeit notes at great cost.

See also

• Themiclesia