10 Taels - Anonymous

The Yuan dynasty operated one of the most sophisticated monetary systems of the medieval world, but it was built almost entirely on paper — the dynasty's famous jiaochao notes were legal tender backed by state authority rather than metal reserves. Silver ingots of this type, known as sycee or yuanbao, functioned outside that paper system as a parallel store of value used primarily in large commercial transactions, tax remittances, and tribute payments. They were never "struck" in the Western sense; each was cast individually, which accounts for the considerable weight variation found across surviving examples.

The "anonymous" attribution reflects a genuine documentary gap — Yuan fiscal administration assigned ingots through licensed silversmiths operating under government supervision, but workshop marks were inconsistently applied and many pieces carry no traceable issuing authority.