The srang (pronounced "sang"; in Tibetan often referred to as "dngul srang" i.e. "silver srang") was a currency of

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

between 1909 and 1959. It circulated alongside the ''

tangka The tangka (Tibetan: ''Tam'' or = ''silver tangka'') was a currency of Tibet until 1941. It was subdivided into 15 or and, from 1909, it circulated alongside the '' srang'', worth 10 sho. Coins Coins struck to the tangka standard were first ...

'' until the 1950s. It was divided into 10 ''sho'', each of 10 ''skar'', with the tangka equal to 15 skar (1 srang = 6⅔ tangka). In 1959, the Chinese central government replaced the srang with the

renminbi The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...

at a rate of 50 paper srang per yuan, in which the srang ceased to be legal tender. Originally the srang was a weight unit, particularly to weigh silver and gold. It was equivalent to the Chinese liang (tael), i.e. to about 37.5 grams. The srang first appeared as a

silver coin Silver coins are considered the oldest mass-produced form of coinage. Silver has been used as a coinage metal since the times of the Greeks; their silver drachmas were popular trade coins. The ancient Persians used silver coins between 612–330 ...

in 1909 when Tibet began issuing a variety of denominations rather than only issuing the tangka. These 1 srang silver coins of 18.5 g were minted at Dode. The 1 srang coins were struck till 1919. Silver 1½ srang coins of 5 g were struck in Tapchi mint between 1936 and 1938 and again in 1946. Silver 3 srang coins of 11.3 g were struck in Tapchi mint between 1933 and 1938 and again in 1946. Billon coins of 10 srang were issued from Dogu mint between 1948 and 1952. Gold coins of 20 srang were struck in Ser-Khang mint between 1918 and 1921.Krause, Chester L. and Clifford Mishler (2001). ''Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1901–2000'', Iola: Krause Publications, 28th ed., , p.1798 In 1939, the first Tibetan banknotes appeared denominated in srang (notes of 100 "tam srang"; later the denomination was changed from "tam srang" to "srang"). Subsequently, the Tibetan government issued banknotes of 5, 10 and 25 srang. In 1954, a silver coin was struck for distribution to monks. Although this coin was the last tangka issue, it was valued at 5 srang and was the last silver coin to be struck in Tibet. The last Tibetan copper coins (5 sho = 1/2 srang) were issued in 1953, while 100 srang notes were issued in large numbers until 1959.

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References

*Bertsch, Wolfgang: Varieties of Tibet's Srang Issues". ''Numismatics International Bulletin'', vol. 20, no. 1, January 1986, pp. 7–12. * *

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