Jiaozi paper money issued in Sichuan

1023

Song officials in Chengdu formalized the world's first government-issued paper currency, converting private merchant notes into a state monopoly. Printed with images meant to deter forgery, the notes circulated across the southwest, turning an experiment of salt merchants into the first national paper economy in human history. The innovation freed commerce from the weight of copper coinage and accelerated trade across the vast Song empire.