jan 1, 1526 - Invention of Proto-Coinage 1526

Description:

To improve the efficiency of the taxation systems of the new empire, a new system of "tax tokens" is created to ensure that all pay the appropriate amount each year.

Subjects are able to pay their tributes and taxes at a government-run distribution office, and they are given a struck copper coin to represent their paid tribute, valid only for the current year. These tax tokens are then given to the capital at the end of each year to verify that the appropriate amount of tribute has been paid. Essentially, they are receipts of taxes paid.

While not a proper currency as we know it, these early tax tokens would soon morph into one as people began to melt them down, trade the tax tokens amongst one another, and even change the timestamped year in order to skirt tax obligations.

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