This essay provides an in-depth discussion of currency circulation and its development in Taiwan during the early Ch'ing dynasty (17□ and 18□ centuries). It analyses the background and changing characteristics of currency circulation, and thereby seeks to remedy a lacunae in the history of currency use in Taiwan. Most data is drawn from Ch'ing archives, popular stele inscriptions, and contemporary contracts, with supplementary evidence taken from Taiwan gazetteers, literary collections, and biographies. The three key developments addressed by the paper are: (1) Following the establishment of unified Ch'ing control over Taiwan, political considerations, together with government efforts to collect taxes in copper cash and control trade, caused changes in the official administration of Taiwan's currency. These changes included restrictions on the use of private currency and the promotion of standardized coinage, as well as changes in the relative strength of the silver tael(liang) and dollar(yuan) currencies. (2) Taken as a whole, Ch'ing policies of introducing copper cash into the Taiwanese economy contributed to unstable patterns of currency circulation. The failure of these policies to produce monetary stability can be attributed to official shortsightedness brought about by an insufficient understanding, on the part of both central and local government authorities, of both Taiwanese social conditions and the specific needs of individual Taiwanese markets. (3) The Ch'ing government's restriction of overseas trade forced the Taiwanese currency market to rely on the officially used silver tael as its primary source of silver. This meant a shift away from the silver dollar, which had originally served as a more common mode of exchange among the general population of Taiwan. This trend in favor of the tael lasted up until the large-cale entry of Western silver dollars into the Taiwanese economy commenced around the mid-18□ century. In addition, the essay discusses an interesting regional characteristic of currency use in Taiwan; namely, that due to the more developed state of commerce in southern Taiwan, the yuan which circulated in the South contained a higher fineness of silver than those used in the central and northern parts of the island.