Bamboo tallies

The bamboo tally is not a note, not currency. All the bamboo notes (I personnaly have now made a catalogue of more than 300 different types that probably will be published in one year, with Ms. Helen Wang and Mr.Yu Jun) have their facial value on the bamboo: some in "zhiqian" (cash coins), some in "tongyuan" (copper ten cash coins) and some others in "yang" (foreign silver), or in "jiao" (cents).
All bamboo tallies are not currency, the most part are countermarks, shop sticks, restaurants marks (In 1986 in Suzhou, I use that type of bamboo : you paid in money at the out-desk for a soup or for dumplings, the girl give you a bamboo tally with the inscription (name of restaurant and type of dishes) and with this tally you go to the inside desk and the chef give you the bowl in exchange of the tally. But now this practice is over and replaced by Mac Donalds and other KFC...).
We should consider as currency only bamboo tallies with facial value in count unity (cash, yuan, tongyuan, etc...), with name of issuer (bank or shop), and additionnaly we can find local name (city, county, street...), the date and some time condition of use.

I have different opinion on the page of bamboo banknote. The stick does not seem to be a banknote for the following reasons:
1. It does not have a denomination, which is very important in the Chinese monetary system.
2. The name Liang Ji was engraved on the stick. There is no indication that Liang Ji is a bank.
3. The engraving is not precise enough to avoid counterfeiting.
4. The stick is too large to be conveniently carried or concealed.
5. There is no documentation that, in the past millennium, the Chinese use wood or bamboo as money exchange medium. The Chinese font and style seem to be a recent production.
6. I cannot read the centre of the first picture. The second picture centre is He Li Seng Chai which means to combine profit (or benefit) to make more money. This slogan is commonly used in the market place rather than in a bank. Chinese banks usually use the slogans such as honesty, secure, guarantee, etc. I have never seen a bank indicating "I will use your money to make my money."
I believe that this stick is a type of tally system. In the old days, 50 years ago and before, when a coolie delivered a sack of rice from the boat to the warehouse, the warehouse would give the coolie a stick to carry back to the boat. Later on, the boat owner could pay the coolie and charge the warehouse for the number of sacks. This tallying system was commonly use in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Any additional comments on that item would be appreciated. You can sent it to Vladimir Belyaev .

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