CHAPTER IV
CURRENCY, BANKING AND CREDIT
Currency Areas.—The world is divided into a number of clearly marked currency areas. Outside of the gold using countries, the most interesting and important of these is the area of the Far East, in which the Mexican dollar or a silver coin of like size is the ordinary medium of exchange. This area comprises China, Hongkong, French Indo-China, Singapore, Borneo, and the Philippine Islands. The currency here rests entirely upon the basis of exchange value, except in the Philippines, where the gold exchange standard has been established. The use of the dollar goes back to the time when Mexico as well as the Philippines were Spanish dependencies. The rich silver mines of Mexico furnished the circulating medium for a large part of the Spanish dominions, including those in the Orient, and as Spain was at that time the most prominent colonial power east of India, the use of the dollar spread from the Philippine Islands to other adjacent parts of the Oriental world. Even at the present time there are more Mexican dollars in circulation in the Orient than in Mexico itself. Thè coin supply is usually shipped from Mexico 163