As I understand it, safe water was historically a problem, which led to the prevalence of hot tea for drinking.  I guess culture in Asia tended towards boiling water, as opposed to Europe&#x27;s tendency to ferment beverages to make them safer?<p>I forget the source where I read this, but there were supposedly vendors who only sold hot water.  Water is a really cheap commodity, so the currency reflected that.  Those lightweight, fractional-cent coins with the holes in them were kept on a string by the water vendors to easily take&#x2F;dispense for selling hot water.<p>It&#x27;s been years since I read this, so I may be totally off base with my recollection.  But it makes sense given the problems associated with very dense populations and potable water in pre-industrial times.