清代前期发挥作用的是白银、 铜钱以及会票等民间自律货币并存的多元复合货币结构。 清初废银论及萧条说， 将白银作为社会衰败的原因， 是从货币的职能和功能进行了片面的解读， 白银的货币化表明中国的价值尺度实现了摆脱铜钱的根本转换。 银钱比价的变动， 决不是两者在供求上简单的数量关系，而是反映了基于金属货币的自然特质在质量不一、 金属货币的非货币化前提下不同阶层货币占有的不均匀和财富分配的不平等， 从而出现 “白银陷阱”。 突破金属货币数量限制的尝试仅限于基于基层共同体和行业组织人的信任为基础的自律货币会票之类， 一国一通货性质的信用货币创造机制由于缺乏制度改进在清代前期未能实现。

Silver，copper coins and private bills of exchange comprise the diverse and complex monetary system in the early Qing China. Identifying the scarcity of silver and the“Kangxi Depression，”as the cause of social decline during the early Qing is a one-sided analysis of the function of money. The monetization of silver represented the transformation of the valuation of currency away from copper coin. The exchange rate of silver and copper coin was not just determined simply by their quantity，it also reflected the difference in the intrinsic values of the different metals also led to a “silver trap. ”Trying to escape the limits of the bimetallic monetary system and shifting to the type of private currency system that based on public confidence in bills of exchange was not possible in the absence of nation-wide credit system.