What is "sycee"

Sycee \Sy*cee"\, n. [Said to be from a Chinese word, se-tze or se-sze, meaning, fine silk, and to be so called because if pure it may be drawn out into fine threads.] Silver, pounded into ingots of the shape of a shoe, and used as currency. The most common weight is about one pound troy. [China]
--McElrath.

n. An ingot of silver, shaped like a shoe, once used as currency in China.

A sycee ( or , from Cantonese , sai-sì, . "fine silk") or yuanbao was a type of silver or gold ingot currency used in imperial China from its founding under the Qin dynasty until the fall of the Qing in the 20th century. Sycee were not made by a central bank or mint but by individual silversmiths for local exchange; consequently, the shape and amount of extra detail on each ingot were highly variable. Square and oval shapes were common, but boat, flower, tortoise and others are known. Their value—like the value of the various silver coins and little pieces of silver in circulation at the end of the Qing dynasty—was determined by experienced moneyhandlers ( shroffs), who estimated the appropriate discount based on the purity of the silver and evaluated the weight in taels and the progressive decimal subdivisions of the tael ( mace, candareen, and cash).

In present-day China, gold sycees remain a symbol of wealth and prosperity and are commonly depicted during the Lunar New Year festivities. Paper imitations of gold- or silver-colored paper are burned along with hell money as a part of Chinese ancestral veneration for Tomb Sweeping Day and the Ghost Festival.