Spill the Tea

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Coin collectors are often drawn to the more bizarre forms of money used throughout the world. Some of the strange items used in barter or trade included huge stone wheels on the island of Yap in the Pacific, as well as feathers, shells, and beads of all sorts. But one of the most unusual forms of money has to be tea money: bricks of tea that Chinese merchants once used as an international item of trade.

Steeped in Tradition

Tea has been the beverage of choice in China for hundreds of years. There is evidence that tea drinking was popular in the 8th century and that its use spread to Russia and western Asia during Mongol times. By the 16th century, the use of tea was well established throughout Europe, and in time, English colonists brought the custom to America along with the first settlers. Today, tea is consumed by more people and in greater quantities than any other beverage except water. 

The use of tea as a commercial commodity probably began with the heavy demand for fine Chinese tea among the Russian nobility. It was considered very valuable, and only the rich could afford it. At first, dried leaves were transported from China to Russia by camel caravans over the treacherous Silk Road. Later, it was found that a more convenient form could be made by fashioning it into solid bricks about the size of a large book. Eventually, tea bricks became an accepted medium of exchange that could be traded for silver and other items in both domestic and foreign exchanges. The average brick was commonly valued at 1 rupee when used to pay wages and buy provisions.

Cure What Ails You

Natives in Siberia favored tea brick money over metallic coins because of tea’s medicinal use as a treatment for coughs, colds, and lung diseases, as well as a refreshing beverage. It was generally preferred over other forms of money, which were often prone to value fluctuations and loss to bandits.

Most of the early tea bricks were made in China and carried by camel and yak caravans to Tibet, Mongolia, and Siberia. The value of tea bricks varied according to the fermentation, color, weight and proportion of wood to leaf. The price also depended on the market’s distance and accessibility. The highest-standard bricks were dark brown and contained only the best leaves, with no wood. 

Many bore inscriptions in Russian, Chinese, Mongolian, and Manchurian to indicate the origin of the manufacturer, or sometimes the location of the factory. The back was often scored with markings to indicate several equal portions.

Natives in Siberia favored tea brick money over metallic coins because of tea’s medicinal use as a treatment for coughs, colds, and lung diseases.

Brick Designs

Prior to the invasion of Tibet, before World War II, it was reported that in preparation for conquest, the Chinese aggressors bought all the available tea bricks. Much of this was made with a design well known to collectors today because of its availability after the war. From 1975 to 1985, the molds for this design were used to produce tea bricks sold as novelty tea for drinking. The main difference between those and the originals made in 1939 is the quality of the tea and its still-fresh aroma. Another clue to a brick’s age is that the exergue of the original bricks bears an eight-character legend at the bottom of the design, whereas the modern bricks have only seven characters.

Conclusion

Very few of the original bricks still have clear images and inscriptions, and superior pieces are highly valued by collectors. Pieces made for trade in Russia, showing Russian inscriptions, seem to be the rarest and have sold for hundreds of dollars. Those made and used during World War II are considered the most common of the original pieces but sell quickly when they appear at auction.

The modern bricks sold in some grocery stores have very little collector value. However, they are a colorful reminder of one of the most unusual forms of money ever used anywhere in the world.