香港領土型幣制的演進──以清末民初港、粵的銀輔幣角力為中心

The Development of Territorial Monetary System in Colonial Hong Kong: An Analysis of the Struggle over Silver Subsidiary Coins, 1883-1919

十九世紀以還，政府出於鞏固國權的切望，開始對貨幣發行與管理伸張前所未有的掌控；歷史上嚴格地以一國一幣為目標的領土型貨幣（territorial money）時代終於到來，貨幣空間發生根本變化。揆諸史實，創造新的領土型貨幣並不容易；政府必須以巨大而持續不斷的努力，嚴加抑制對手外幣在其國土內自由流通，方能克服市場力量和悠久而根深柢固的貨幣傳統，落實其對國內貨幣秩序的掌控。香港開埠後七十年間的貨幣演變歷程，即為具體例證。過去有關香港貨幣史的論著，對輔幣部門的研究，大多語焉不詳，點到即止；其中較受學者關注而有所著力者，厥為一九一二至一九一三年之交，因英人經營的香港電車公司，拒收廣東發行的輔幣作車資，引起群眾杯葛運動這一課題。其實就清末民初的中國而言，廣大民間日常交易多以輔幣為支付手段，其在經濟活動上的重要性絕不下於主幣，唯以往學者的研究及發表成果，多側重於幣制及主幣。本文擬以時為經、以事為緯，取資英國殖民地部、外交部檔案、國會文書、香港立法局文書及會議紀錄、政府憲報、當日香港中外報刊，以及近人研究成果，就前人未發之覆，以清末民初港、粵的銀輔幣角力為中心，探討香港領土型幣制的演進歷程，並就其間港粵、中英、港英、廣州北京，以至香港內部官商及商人之間錯綜複雜的互動關係，作具體而微的論述，深化吾人對當日港、粵貨幣關係的認知。

Out of a keen desire to consolidate national sovereignty, governments have established an unprecedented control over the issuance and management of money from the nineteenth century onward; the epoch of territorial money characterized by a single currency within one country has ultimately arrived, and a fundamental change in the spatial distribution of currency has taken place. Historic experience shows that the creation of new territorial money is not an easy task; governments must make herculean and consistent efforts to restrict the free circulation of foreign currencies within their territories before they can overwhelm the long and deep-rooted tradition, and finally institutionalize a firm grip over the domestic monetary order. The seventy years of monetary developments in Hong Kong serves as a concrete example. Most of the previous cases works on Hong Kong’s monetary history tended to forgo much elaboration on the subject of fractional or subsidiary currency. The only exception was that much attention was given to the boycott on the Hong Kong tramway from 1912 to 1913, when the Hong Kong Tramway Company refused to accept subsidiary coins issued by the Guangdong authorities as payment for fares. In practice, during the late Qing and early Republican period, subsidiary coins were a major mean of payment for the daily transaction of the toiling masses, and their economic importance was no less than that of taels or dollars. Nevertheless, previous scholarly works on the monetary system placed much emphasis on taels or dollars at the expense of the subsidiary coins. This article intends to deal with events in chronological sequence, drawing reference from diplomatic archives from the British foreign office, colonial office records, parliamentary documents, sessional papers and Hansard from the Hong Kong Legislative Council, Government Gazette, and Chinese and foreign newspapers in Hong Kong, as well as fruits of relevant scholarly research. The author tries to unearth historic facts which have escaped the attention they deserve. Focusing on the struggle between the Hong Kong- and Guangdong-made silver subsidiary coins, this article also explores the intricacies between government authorities of Hong Kong and Guangdong, Great Britain and China, Hong Kong and Great Britain, as well as Beijing and Guangdong; the relationships between government authorities and merchants and among merchants themselves in Hong Kong were also meticulously discussed. In short, this article seeks to deepen our understanding on the monetary relations between Hong Kong and Guangdong at the turn of the twentieth century.