tour 11 of 11
Chinese New Year
Chocolate money
This piece of chocolate money is in the form of
Chinese silver ingots which were used in China until the 1930s. The
ingots were used to make large or official payments, such as taxes,
and the inscriptions usually relate to that function. Some very
small ingots, in gold or silver, were made to give as presents and
these often had a good luck inscription on
them.
Here, the chocolate
ingot has been wrapped in gold foil, and has four stamped
impressions on the top, making up the wish 'May wealth and
treasure come to you!'