Yusensheng, Jingzhengji and Wangyongsheng, as the largest junk firms in Shanghai in the Qing Dynasty, engaged in coastal transportation and made great contributions to the formation of Shanghai Port and the development of the city. At the same time, they also run private money houses and minted and issued silver dollars in the 6th Year of Xianfeng Period, Qing Dynasty, which were called by the financial street the “Shanghai silver dollars” and set a precedent for firms in Shanghai to mint by themselves silver dollars and to circulate the dollars in the market. They are also the earliest existing silver dollars in China with “liang” as the unit, contributing to the economic development of Shanghai in the late Qing Dynasty.
