Silver Dragon (coin)

Silver Dragon
Chinese Silver Dragon, 1904
Traditional Chinese	龍銀
Simplified Chinese	龙银
Literal meaning	dragon money
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin lóngyín

Silver Dragon coins, also sometimes known as Dragon dollars, are silver coins issued by China, Japan and later Korea for general circulation in their own countries. Featuring a dragon on the obverse of Japanese and Korean issues and on the reverse of Chinese issues, all were inspired by the silver Spanish dollar which following its introduction into the region in the 16th Century had set the standard for a de facto common currency for trade in the Far East, this specification being a weight of 27.22 grams and a fineness of .900; the coin thus contained 24.5 g (0.7876 troy oz) of silver.

Following the establishment of the Spanish Philippines, Intramuros became an entrepôt for Chinese goods in one direction and silver, from across the Pacific to the Spanish held silver mines of Mexico, in the other. This so-called "Manila Galleons" trade route, led from the 16th Century onwards to the wide circulation and acceptance of "pieces of eight" in East Asia. Even after the end of the Spanish Empire in the Americas, Western nations wishing to trade with China found the preferred method of payment was the silver Mexican Peso, the successor of the Spanish dollar.

The high regard in which the Spanish-Mexican coins came to be held, led to the minting of silver Chinese yuan, Japanese yen and later Korean won coins to the same specifications as the Spanish ones i.e. a weight 7 mace and 2 candareens (approx. 27.22 grams or 420 grains) and a fineness of .900 (90%), for use as legal tender in their own countries. The name of these coins in all three countries derives from , meaning round or circular object in all three languages, a link to these silver coins surviving in the modern names of the Chinese, Japanese and North and South Korean currencies, that is yuan, yen, and won.