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The cash or qian was a type of coin of China and the Sinosphere, used from the 4th century BCE until the 20th century, characterised by their round outer shape and a square center hole (Chinese: 方穿; pinyin: fāng chuān; Jyutping: fong1 cyun1; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hong-chhoan).
During the Warring states period, the first precursors of the Chinese cash coins started to appear. These early round coins (圜錢, huánqián) circulated alongside the knife and spade money. As most of these early round coins had round holes, the first "true" cash coins were the Yi Hua (一化) produced by the State of Yan.
Chinese coins were usually made from mixtures of metals such copper, tin and lead, from bronze, brass or iron: precious metals like gold and silver were uncommonly used. The ratios and purity of the coin metals varied considerably. Most Chinese coins were produced with a square hole in the middle.
Part of the value of this coin comes from the fact that it was engraved by L. Giorgi, an Italian considered the “most famous” of all Chinese coin engravers. One version sold for $420,000 in 2021.
An example of these Chongzhen Tongbao cash coins with mint marks the Chinese character "Zhong" (忠) which translates as either "loyal" or "honest" located above the reverse side of the square centre hole. [15] During the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, there were a total of 156 different mint furnaces producing cash coins in operation. [15]
The hole enabled the coins to be strung together to create higher denominations, as was frequently done due to the coin's low value. The number of coins in a string of cash (simplified Chinese: 一贯钱; traditional Chinese: 一貫錢; pinyin: yīguàn qián) varied over time and place but was nominally 1000. [4] A string of 1000 wén was ...
Bronze mold for minting Ban Liang coins, Warring States period (475-221 BC), State of Qin, from an excavation in Qishan County, Baoji, Shaanxi province. The Ban Liang (Chinese: 半兩; pinyin: bàn liǎng) was the first unified currency of the Chinese empire, first minted as early as 378 BC and introduced by the first emperor Qin Shi Huang as China's first unified currency around 210 BC [1 ...
The coins were round with a square hole in the middle which was the common design for most Chinese copper coins until the 20th century. Due to the low value of an individual coin, the Chinese have traditionally strung a nominal thousand copper coins onto a piece of string. Government taxes were levied on both coins and products such as rolls of ...