Jin Xu, Empire of silver: a new monetary history of China, Yale University Press, 2021, 384 pages

China has an abundant and rich monetary history. The first coins minted in the country were done so more than 2,500 years ago, making them among the very first anywhere. Paper money was first introduced in China, and used in one form or another for several hundred years before being abolished in 1455 – more than 200 years before the first European banknotes in 1661. But as recently as the late 19th