Cash (Chinese coin)

Chinese cash coins originated from the barter of farming tools and agricultural surpluses.[4] Around 1200 BC, smaller token spades, hoes, and knives began to be used to conduct smaller exchanges with the tokens later melted down to produce real farm implements. These tokens came to be used as media of exchange themselves and were known as spade money and knife money.[5][6]

As standard circular coins were developed following the unification of China by Qin Shi Huang, the most common formation was the round-shaped copper coin with a square or circular hole in the center, the prototypical cash. The early Ban Liang[7] cash coins were said to have been made in the shape of wheels like how other Ancient Chinese forms of coinage were based on agricultural tools.[5] It is commonly believed that the early round coins of the Warring States period resembled the ancient jade circles (璧環) which symbolised the supposed round shape of the sky, while the centre hole in this analogy is said to represent the planet earth (天圓地方).[8] The body of these early round coins was called their "flesh" (肉) and the central hole was known as "the good" (好).[8]

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: yīguànqián) varied over time and place but was nominally 1000. A tael of pure silver in sycee form traded for a fluctuating price of approximately 1000 cash.[5] A string of cash was divided into ten sections of 100 cash each. Local custom allowed the person who put the string together to take a cash or a few from each hundred for his effort (one, two, three or even four in some places). Thus a string of cash could contain 970 coins in one city and 990 in the next. In some places in the North of China short of currency the custom counted one cash as two and fewer than 500 cash would be exchanged for an ounce of silver. A string of cash weighed over ten pounds and was generally carried over the shoulder. (See Hosea Morse's "Trade and Administration of the Chinese Empire" p. 130 ff.) Paper money equivalents known as flying cash sometimes showed pictures of the appropriate number of cash coins strung together.[9]

Following the Ban Liang cash coins the Han dynasty introduced the San Zhu cash coins which in the year 118 BC were replaced by the Wu Zhu cash coins.[10][11][12] The production of Wu Zhu cash coins was briefly suspended by Wang Mang during the Xin dynasty but after the reestablishment of the Han dynasty, the production of Wu Zhu cash coins resumed, and continued to be manufactured long after the fall of the Eastern Han dynasty for another 500 years. Minting was definitively ended in 618 with the establishment of the Tang dynasty. Wu Zhu cash coins were cast from 118 BC to 618 AD having a span of 736 years, which is the longest for any coin in human history.[13]

The Tang dynasty introduced the Kaiyuan Tongbao,[14] which would influence the inscriptions of cash coins, both inside and outside of China, minted from this period onwards.[15][16][17]

The Koreans,[18] Japanese,[19] Ryukyuans,[20] and Vietnamese[21][22] all cast their own copper cash in the latter part of the second millennium similar to those used by China.[23]

Chinese cash coins were usually made from copper-alloys throughout most of Chinese history, before 1505 they were typically made from bronze and from 1505 onwards they were mostly made from brass.[24]

Chinese historian Peng Xinwei stated that in the year 1900 traditional cast copper-alloy cash coins only made up 17.78% of the total Chinese currency stock, privately-produced banknotes made up only 3%, and foreign trade dollars circulating in China (which mostly included the silver Mexican peso) made up 25% of the total Chinese currency stock by the 1900s.[25][26] The context of traditional Chinese cash coins in the Chinese economy during the 1900s and its late stage in the monetary history of China is comparable to that of Western Europe's tiered currency systems used prior to the steam-powered mints, struck coinage, and territorial nation-state currencies between the 13th and 18th century.[27][28] Helen Dunstan argues that the late-Imperial Chinese polity was much more preoccupied with maintaining national grain reserves and making the price of grain affordable to the Chinese people and the attention of the government of the Qing dynasty to the exchange rate of copper and silver would have to be viewed in this light.[29]

The last Chinese cash coins were struck, not cast, during the reigns of the Qing Guangxu and Xuantong Emperors shortly before the fall of the Empire in 1911, though even after the fall of the Qing dynasty production briefly continued under the Republic of China.

Various cash coins issued during the early Republic of China.

After the fall of the Qing empire, local production of cash coins continued, including the "Minguo Tongbao" (民國通寶) coins in 1912, but were phased out in favour of the new Yuan-based coins. During Yuan Shikai's brief attempt at monarchy as the Empire of China, trial cash coins are reported to have been minted as part of the "Hong Xiang Tong Bao" (洪憲通寶) series in 1916 but not circulated.[30] During the Republican period cash coins with the inscription Fujian Tongbao (福建通寶) were produced in Fujian, these had the denominations of 1 wén and 2 wén.[31][32] Trial coins with Fujian Sheng Zao (Chinese: 福建省造), Min Sheng Tong Yong (traditional Chinese: 閩省通用; simplified Chinese: 闽省通用), and a Fujian Tong Bao with a reverse inscribed with Er Wen Sheng Zao (Chinese: 二文省造) were also cast, but never circulated.[33] The coin continued to be used unofficially in China until the mid-20th century.

Vietnamese cash coins continued to be cast up until the early 1940s.[34] The last Chinese cash coins in Indonesia circulated in Bali until 1970 and are still used for most Hindu rituals today.[35][36][37]

Bronze mould for minting Ban Liang coins, the mould was used during the Warring States period (475–221 BC) by the State of Qin, from an excavation in Qishan County, Baoji, Shaanxi province.

During the Zhou dynasty period, the method for casting coins consisted of first carving the individual characters of a coin together with its general outline into a mould made of either soapstone or clay.[39] The casting process in these early moulds worked in a way that two mould-sections were placed together, then the core of the mould was placed into the top area, then the bronze smiths would pour molten metal into an opening that was formed by a cavity that was located in its centre.[40][41][42] As this was done without using a prior model, early Chinese coinage tends to look very diverse, even from the same series of coins as these all were cast from different (and unrelated) moulds bearing the same inscriptions.

During the Han dynasty, in order to gain consistency in the circulating coinage, master bronze moulds were manufactured to be used as the basis for other cash moulds.[43]

A "coin tree" used to make cash coins

From the 6th century AD and later, new "mother coins" (mǔ qián 母錢) were cast as the basis for coin production. These were engraved in generally easily manipulated metals such as tin. Coins were cast in sand moulds. Fine wet sand was placed in rectangles made from pear wood, and small amounts of coal and charcoal dust were added to refine the process, acting as a flux. The mother coins were placed on the sand, and another pear wood frame would be placed upon the mother coin. The molten metal was poured in through a separate entrance formed by placing a rod in the mould. This process would be repeated 15 times and then molten metal would be poured in. After the metal had cooled down, the "coin tree" (qián shù 錢樹) was extracted from the mould (which would be destroyed due to the process). The coins would be taken off the tree and placed on long square rods to have their edges rounded off, often for hundreds of coins simultaneously. After this process, the coins were strung together and brought into circulation.

In Korea cash coins are known as yeopjeon (葉錢, "leaf coins") because of the way that they resemble leaves on a branch when they were being cast in the mould.[44]

From 1730 during the Qing dynasty, the mother coins were no longer carved separately but derived from "ancestor coins" (zǔ qián 祖錢). Eventually this resulted in greater uniformity among cast Chinese coinage from that period onwards. A single ancestor coin would be used to produce tens of thousands of mother coins; each of these in turn was used to manufacture tens of thousands of cash coins.[45][46][47]

Machine-struck cash coins issued under the Guangxu Emperor in Guangzhou, Guangdong.

During the late Qing dynasty under the reign of the Guangxu Emperor in the mid 19th century the first machine-struck cash coins were produced, from 1889 a machine operated mint in Guangzhou, Guangdong province opened where the majority of the machine-struck cash would be produced. Machine-made cash coins tend to be made from brass rather than from more pure copper as cast coins often were, and later the copper content of the alloy decreased while cheaper metals like lead and tin were used in larger quantities giving the coins a yellowish tint. Another effect of the contemporary copper shortages was that the Qing government started importing Korean 5 fun coins and overstruck them with "10 cash".[48][49]

The production of machine-struck cash coins in Qing China ran contemporary with the production of machine-struck French Indochinese Nguyễn cash coins, but unlike in China milled cash coinage would eventually become popular in French Indochina with the Khải Định Thông Bảo (啓定通寶).[50][51]

List of calligraphic styles and scripts on Chinese cash coins:[57][58][59]

Chinese calligraphy		Non-Chinese scripts
Calligraphic style	Example image	Script	Example image
Seal script (篆書)		Kuśiññe script
Clerical script (隸書)		Old Uyghur alphabet
Regular script (楷書)		Khitan large script
Running script (行書)		Tangut script
Grass script (草書)		'Phags-pa script
Slender gold script (瘦金體)		Manchu script
Jade tendon seal script (玉筋篆)		Arabic script

This table reflects current knowledge, but future archaeological research might reveal that other materials were used for cash coins in other periods of Chinese history.[98]

Non-copper-alloy cash coins by time period
Material used	Period(s)	Example image
Iron cash coins	Han dynasty, Three Kingdoms period, Northern and Southern dynasties period, Five dynasties and Ten kingdoms period, Song dynasty, Jin dynasty (1115–1234), Western Xia dynasty, Ming dynasty, and Qing dynasty.
Lead cash coins	Zhou dynasty,[99] Qin dynasty,[100] Western Han dynasty,[101] Tang dynasty,[102] Five dynasties and Ten kingdoms period, Northern Song dynasty, and Qing dynasty.
Clay cash coins	Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period[103]
Silver cash coins	Ming dynasty
Gold cash coins	Qin dynasty, Han dynasty, Tang dynasty,[104] and Southern Song dynasty.

• Mother coins (母錢), are model cash coins used in the casting process from which other cash coins were produced.
• Ancestor coins (祖錢), are model cash coins introduced in the Qing dynasty used in the casting process from which other mother coins were produced.
• Coin trees (錢樹), are the "tree-shaped" result of the casting process off of which the cash coins were taken to later be strung together.
• Mao (卯), a casting period, a pre-determined batch of cash coins to be cast.[121]

• Counterfeit cash coins (traditional Chinese: 惡錢; simplified Chinese: 恶钱; pinyin: È qián; lit. 'Bad money') refers to illegally produced cash coins, often of inferior quality.[6][122] Coin counterfeiting has been recorded as early as the Qin dynasty period and has negatively affected social stability and caused economic problems that would continue in later dynasties in Chinese history.[6] The introduction and circulation of counterfeit cash coins onto the market caused inflation, which hindered economic development and caused a series of social problems throughout history.[6][123] These illegally produced cash coins typically had reduced weights or were adulterated with lower-cost metals (such as iron, lead, etc.), reducing the copper content in the alloys relative to regulation cash coins.[6]
• Siqian (私錢) or Sizhuqian (私鑄錢), refers to cash coins produced by private mints or forgers.[124]

• Crescent, a curved mark often found on the reverse side of cash coins, these are referred to as "moons" (月), further reading: "Han dynasty coinage § Dots, crescents, circles, numbers, counting rods, Chinese characters, and other symbols appearing on coins".[121]
• Dot, a round mark often found on the reverse side of cash coins, these are referred to as "stars" (星).[121]
• Dot and crescent, a combination of the above, these are known as a "pregnant star" (孕星).[121]
• Huachuanqian (花穿錢), cash coins with octagonal holes, known as "flower (rosette) hole coins".[125]
• Guijiachuan qian (龜甲穿錢), cash coins with hexagonal holes, known as "turtle shell hole coins".[125]
• Gongshi Nuqian (traditional Chinese: 公式女錢; simplified Chinese: 公式女钱; pinyin: gōng shì nǚ qián), or "female coins", is a term used to refer to Wu Zhu cash coins without an outer rim.[126]
• Jiaoqian (traditional Chinese: 角錢; simplified Chinese: 角钱; pinyin: jiǎo qián), or "corner coins", is a term used to refer to Wu Zhu cash coins with four oblique lines that extend outward from each corner of the square centre hole to the rim of the reverse side of the cash coin.[126] In Mandarin Chinese, these cash coins are often referred to as si chu (四出). The word si (四) translates as "four" and the word chu (出) means "going out".[126]
• Yushu Qian (traditional Chinese: 禦書錢; simplified Chinese: 御书钱; pinyin: yù shū qián), or "royally inscribed currency", is a term used to describe Song dynasty era cash coins which, according to legend, were inscribed by the Emperor of China himself.[127][128] For example the Chunhua Yuanbao (淳化元寶) is said to have been inscribed by Emperor Taizong of Song.[127]
• Si jue (四訣), four lines radiating outward from the four corners of the square centre hole which may or may not extend entirely to the rim of the reverse of a cash coin, these lines were exclusively included on some Song dynasty cash coins.[129]

• Liang (兩) and Zhu (銖), weight measures used as the main obverse inscriptions on ancient Chinese cash coins until the introduction of the Bao (寳), meaning "precious" or "treasure", inscription in the year 621.[130]
• Tongbao (通寳), literally "circulating treasure",[lower-alpha 2] is an inscription first introduced with the Kaiyuan Tongbao (開元通寳) series of cash coins during the Tang dynasty period in 621 and was used as the most common inscription on cash coins for more than 1300 years and occupies a dominant position in the monetary history of China.[131][132] Prior to the introduction of the Kaiyuan Tongbao, cash coins typically featured the weight of the coin as (a part of) their inscription, but as cash coins were now valued based on government regulation rather than their weight as a form of commodity money this Inscription superseded the prior Wu Zhu (五銖) weight-based Inscription.[131]
• Yuanbao (元寳), literally "inaugural treasure", "first treasure", "primal treasure", "original treasure", or "round treasure", originated as a misreading of the Inscription Kaiyuan Tongbao where the inscription was read clockwise as "Kaitong Yuanbao" (開通元寳).[131][133] Due to a naming taboo the term "Yuanbao" was phased out from cash coin inscriptions due to a naming taboo as the founder of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang had the word "Yuan" (元) in his name. The term "Yuanbao" is also an alternative name for boat-shaped sycees.[134]
• Zhongbao (重寳), literally "heavy treasure", an inscription typically used on high denomination cash coins, initially introduced in 758 with the Qianyuan Zhongbao (乾元重寳) nominally valued at 10 ordinary cash coins.[135]
• Nianhao (年號), sometimes translated as "reign title" or "reign era", refers to the period title used by Chinese monarchs, these period titles typically consisted of an auspicious phrase (such as Immeasurable Splendour, Heavenly Favour, Abundant Happiness, or United Government) and was used to describe some or all years of the reign of an individual emperor.[130] After the year 621, cash coins typically had 4 character obverse Inscriptions consisting of "[reign era] (Tong/Yuan/Zhong)bao", reading as "[年號](通/元/重)寳".[130] Not all era names were considered to be useable for cash coin Inscriptions, causing them to substitute the nianhao with a dynastic title, consisting of the name of the dynasty in conjunction with a honorific adjective, for example Hanyuan Tongbao (漢元通寳) by the Southern Han dynasty, Tangguo Tongbao (唐國通寳) by the Southern Tang dynasty, and Huangsong Tongbao (皇宋通寳) during the Northern Song dynasty.[130] From the Ming dynasty onwards, there was only a single nianhao used per reign, so the nianhao is often used synonymously as the name of the Emperor, for example Yongle Emperor, Jiajing Emperor, Kangxi Emperor, Jiaqing Emperor, Etc.[130] Hence, only a single inscription was typically used during their reigns (Yongle Tongbao, Jiajing Tongbao, Kangxi Tongbao, Jiaqing Tongbao, Etc.).[130]
• Matched cash coins (對錢, duì qián, 對品, duì pǐn, 和合錢, hé hé qián), is a term introduced during the Southern Tang and started being extensively used during the Northern Song dynasty where cash coins with the same weight, inscription, and denomination was simultaneously cast in different scripts such as regular script and seal script while all having the same legend.
• Shiqian (詩錢), a poem coin.[121]
• Coastal province type, a common calligraphic style found on the locally produced cash coins of the Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Fujian provinces from the Qianlong period onwards.[121]

• Jinqian (金錢), gold cash coins (can also refer to other gold coins).
• Qianqian (鉛錢), lead cash coins.
• Tongqian (銅錢), copper-alloy cash coins, the most common type.
• Tieqian (鐡錢) refers to cash coins made from iron.[136]
• Yinqian (鋅錢), or Baiqian qian (白鉛錢), refers to zinc cash coins.[137]
• Yinqian (銀錢), silver cash coins (can also refer to other silver coins).

• Niqian (traditional Chinese: 泥錢; simplified Chinese: 泥钱; pinyin: ní qián) refers to cash coins made out of clay, when the government of the You Zhou Autonomous Region (900–914) confiscated all bronze cash coins and buried them in a cave, because of this the people had to rely on cash coins made out of clay while later bad quality iron cash coins were issued.[138]
• Tuqian (土錢), a name given to clay cash coins commonly found in tombs that were used as burial coins for the afterlife.[139]

• Yang qian (樣錢), A sample or pattern coin.[121]
• Banbu yang qian (頒布樣錢), an official pattern coin.[121]
• Jincheng yang qian (進呈樣錢), "Present to the Emperor" sample coin.[121]

• Jiyuan qian (記元錢), a cash coin cast to commemorate a new period title.[121]
• Kai Lu Qian (traditional Chinese: 開爐錢; simplified Chinese: 开炉钱; pinyin: kāi lú qián), or "commemorative cash coins", were a special type of cash coin produced to commemorate the opening of a mint or a new furnace.[140][141] The largest ever recorded of these cash coins, and also the largest and heaviest ancient Chinese coin ever found, was a giant Jiajing Tongbao (嘉靖通寶) cash coin produced for the opening of a mint in Dongchuan, Sichuan.[142][140] This Kai Lu cash coin has a diameter of 57.8 centimeters (or 22.8 inches), a thickness of 3.7 centimeters (or 1.5 inches), and it has a weight of 41.5 kilograms (or 91.5 pounds).[140][141] On June 27, 1990, the Quality Inspection Section of the Huize County Lead and Zinc Mine Archives (simplified Chinese: 会泽县的铅锌矿档案馆; traditional Chinese: 會澤縣的鉛鋅礦檔案館; pinyin: huì zé xiàn de qiān xīn kuàng dàng àn guǎn),[143] where the cash coin is on display, conducted a sampling and analysis of the coin,[140] conducted an assay and concluded that the coin had a composition of 90. 81% copper, 0. 584% aluminum, 0. 532% zinc, and 3% iron.[143][141] In the year 2002 it was added to the Guinness World Records as the largest coin.[143]
• Five Metal Value Ten coins are Chinese cash coins that were issued by the Ministry of Revenue made from an alloy of tin, iron, copper, silver, and gold.[144] They contain the obverse inscriptions Tongzhi Zhongbao (同治重寶) or Guangxu Zhongbao (光緒重寶) and are all based on 10 wén Daqian.[144] These special cash coins notably contain the mint marks of Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Ili, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang, and Zhili despite no Daqian from these periods being produced at any of these mints.[144] These special cash coins were created to serve as a new year's present.[144]
• Tianxia Taiping coins (天下太平錢) are Chinese cash coins that were used for presentation at the Palace of Ancestral Worship.[145] They were primarily used during the holidays, such as the birthdays of the reigning emperor or empress as well during as the Chinese New Year.[146] These coins contain the reign titles Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang, Xianfeng, Tongzhi, Guangxu, or Xuantong with "Tongbao" (通寶), or rarely "Zhongbao" (重寶), in their obverse inscription and the reverse inscription "Tianxia Taiping" (天下太平).[145] These special cash coins were wrapped inside of a piece of rectangular cloth and every time that an Emperor died (or "ascended to his ancestors") the coins were replaced with new reign titles.[145] Some Tianxia Taiping cash coins were manufactured by the Ministry of Revenue while others were produced by private mints.[145] Palace issues tend to be larger than circulation cash coins with the same inscriptions.[146]
• Neiting qian (內庭錢), a palace cash coin.[121]

Pre-Ming

• Huanqian (圜錢), or Huanjin (圜金), refers to the round coins issued during the Warring States period and the Qin dynasty.[8] This term was used to differentiate these coins from other shapes of coins, such as the spade coins and knife coins.[8]
• Xiaoping Qian (小平錢) refers to the smallest and most common cash coins, they usually had a diameter of about 2.4–2.5 cm and weights between 3–4 grams.[147]
• Huaqian (花錢, "Flower coin"), charms, amulets, and talismans that often resemble cash coins.
• Cinnabar money (traditional Chinese: 硃砂銅錢; simplified Chinese: 朱砂铜钱; pinyin: Zhūshā tóngqián) refers to cash coins and cash coin amulets that have been artificially made to resemble cinnabar rust money through the application of cinnabar dye.[148] Ancient Chinese people believed that making cash coins into a bright red colour played a role in warding off evil spirits by hanging it on a beam in the house or wearing such coins around their waist.[148] Cinnabar rust money refers to old cash coins which had oxidated in an alkaline environment (PH7-10) and appeared red in colour, this is because the soil reduced substances such as organic sugars to produce cuprous oxide (Cu2O) which is dark red, and also lead red (Pb3O4).[148] This occurs when local corrosion and electrochemical corrosion will also occur, producing red and green rust forming small pinholes (referred to as "bone rust").[148] Cash coins typically first rust green before they turn red into cinnabar rust money.[148] This is because cash coins until the mid-Ming dynasty period onwards most cash coins were made from bronze, though later cash coins were mostly made from brass causing them to oxidise differently, but because the old superstitions still applied people would manually apply cinnabar dye to make them appear red.[148]
• Bingqian (餅錢, "biscuit coins" or "cake coins"), is a term used by modern Chinese and Taiwanese coin collectors to refer to cash coins that have extremely broad outer rims and are extremely thick and heavy. These cash coins were produced under Emperor Zhenzong during the Song dynasty and bear the inscriptions Xianping Yuanbao (咸平元寶) and Xiangfu Yuanbao (祥符元寶), respectively. Bingqian can range from being 26.5 millimeters in diameter and weighing 10.68 grams to being 66 millimeters in diameter.[129][149][150]
• Gong Yang Qian (traditional Chinese: 供養錢; simplified Chinese: 供养钱; pinyin: gōng yǎng qián), variously translated as "temple coins" or "offering coins", were a type of alternative currency that resembled Chinese cash coins that circulated during the Mongol Yuan dynasty period.[151][152] The Yuan dynasty emperors (or khagans) were supports of Buddhism, which meant that the Buddhist temples tended to receive official government support.[151] During this period the larger Buddhist temples in China were able to cast bronze Buddha statues and make other religious artifacts which also meant that it was easy for them to also cast these special kind of cash coins which could then be used by faithful adherents of Buddhism as offerings to Buddha.[151] In general, these temple coins tend to be much smaller and crudely made compared to earlier and later Chinese cash coins.[151] However, because these temple coins, due to their copper content, still had intrinsic value, they would sometimes serve as an alternative currency in China, this would particularly happen during difficult economic times when the Jiaochao paper money issued by the Mongol government was no longer considered to be of any value.[151]
• Guqian (古錢, "ancient cash") or Guquan (古泉), refers to cash coins (real or fake) produced by previous dynasties,[153][154] these at certain times were considered to be legal tender if the current Chinese government didn't produce enough cash coins to meet market demand.[155]

Ming dynasty

• Zhiqian (制錢, "Standard cash coins"), a term used the Ming and Qing dynasties to refer to copper-alloy cash coins produced by the imperial mints according to the standards which were fixed by the central government.[124]
• Jiuqian (舊錢), a term used during the Ming and Qing dynasties to refer to Song dynasty era cash coins that were still in circulation.[124]
• Yangqian (样錢, "Model coin"), also known as Beiqian (北錢, "Northern coin"), is a term used during the Ming dynasty to refer to full weight (1 qián) and fine quality which were delivered to Beijing as seigniorage revenue.[156]
• Fengqian (俸錢, "Stipend coin"), is a term used during the Ming dynasty to refer to second rate cash coins that had a weight of 0.9 qián and were distributed through the salaries of government officials and emoluments.[156]
• Shangqian (賞錢, "Tip money"), is a term used during the Ming dynasty to refer to cash coins that were small, thin, and very fragile (comparable to Sizhuqian) that were used to pay the wages of employees of the imperial government (including the mint workers themselves) and was one of the most commonly circulating types of cash coins during the Ming dynasty among the general population.[156]
• Woqian (倭錢, "Japanese cash"),[157] refers to Japanese cash coins that entered China during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the Imperial Chinese court eventually prohibited them. These are sometimes discovered in China among Chinese cash coins.[158][159][160]
• Xuanbian qian (鏇邊錢), literally "lathed-rim cash coins", was a popular name (folk name) used during the Ming dynasty period to refer to cash coins produced in Yunnan and in Beijing, at the Baoyuanju Mint (寶源局), under the reign of the Jiajing Emperor that were polished using lathes known as xuàn chē (鏇車).[161][162] These cash coins were stable, had a yellowish colour that contemporary sources describe as "beautiful", and round and smooth rims.[161][162]
• Huoqi qian (火漆錢), literally "fire lacquer coins", refers to a Ming dynasty period type of cash coins that were produced by having a special lacquer applied to the coins during finishing aspect of the manufacturing process.[163][161] The only evidence of their existence is mentioned in the Tiangong Kaiwu.[161] A number of surviving late Ming dynasty cash coins are found to have certain amounts of black lacquer substance that is found at the lower parts between characters.[161] This lacquer tends to make the design of the coins look a bit cleaner and was possibly only applied to enhance the beauty of the coins and as an anti-counterfeiting measure.[161] As the alloys of Huoqi qian was different from unlacquered cash coins in circulation at the time, the lacquer may have served as a coating that protected the coin from corrosion.[161] During circulation, the lacquer on the raised parts of the coin would have likely rubbed off.[164][161]

Qing dynasty

• Guangbei qian (光背錢), is a Qing dynasty term that refers to Shunzhi Tongbao (順治通寳) cash coins with no reverse inscriptions including mint marks.[165]
• Yiliqian (一厘錢, "one-cash coin"), referred to as Zheyinqian (折銀錢, "conversion coins") by Chinese numismatists,[lower-alpha 3] is a term used to designate Shunzhi Tongbao cash coins produced from the year 1653 that had the inscription "一厘" on the left to the square centre hole on their reverse sides, this inscription indicates that the nominal value of the cash coin corresponded to 0.001 tael of silver (1 li (釐 or 厘, "cash"), as a weight).[165] This would mean that the official government conversation rate was set as zhé yín yì lí qián (折銀一厘錢), which was proof that silver was of continuing importance as a currency of account.[165] Similar cash coins with this reverse inscription were also being produced by some rulers of the Southern Ming dynasty.[165]
• Xiaoqian (小錢, "small cash") or Qingqian (輕錢), is a Qing dynasty era term that refers to lightweight cash coins created from 1702 that had a weight of 0.7 qián, these coins all disappeared from circulation around the middle of the 18th century.[165]
• Zhongqian (重錢, "full-weight cash" or "heavy cash"), refers to cash coins produced from 1702 with a weight of 1.4 qián and were 1⁄1000 of a tael of silver.[165]
• Huangqian (黃錢, "yellow cash"), a term used to refer to early Qing dynasty era cash coins that didn't contain any tin.[165]
• Qingqian (青錢, "green cash"), is a term used to refer to Qing dynasty era cash coins produced from 1740 where 2% tin was added to the alloy, however despite being called "green cash" it looked indistinguishable from "yellow cash".[165]
• Daqian (大錢, "Big money"), cash coins with a nominal value of 4 wén or higher. This term was used in the Qing dynasty from the Xianfeng period onwards.

• Cash (文), nominally 1 cash coin.
• Diao (吊), a string of 100 or 500 cash coins.[121]
• Chuan (串), a string of 1000 cash coins.[121]
• Changqian (長錢) refers to the regular cash coin system used across China where 1000 cash coins make up a single string (串).[136]
• Dongqian (東錢, "Eastern cash"), an exchange rate used for cash coins in the Fengtian province, where only 160 cash coins make up a string.
• Jingqian (京錢, "metropolitan cash") or Zhongqian (中錢),[166] an exchange rate used in the capital city of Beijing, the Jingqian system allowed a nominal debt of 2 wén (文) could be paid out using only one physical cash coins instead of two, in this system a string of Beijing cash coins (吊) required only 500 cash coins as opposed to the majority of China which used 1000 cash coins for a string (串).[167]
• Kuping Qian (庫平錢), refers to a unit that was part of the official standardisation of the Chinese monetary system during the late Qing period by the imperial treasury to create a decimal system in which 1 Kuping Qian was 1⁄1000 of a Kuping tael.

• Brunei pitis
• Cash coins in Indonesia
• Hong Kong one-mil coin
• Japanese mon (currency)
• Korean mun
• Kucha coinage
• Ryukyuan mon
• Vietnamese văn
• Kelantan keping
• Terengganu keping

• Hartill, David (2005). Cast Chinese Coins: A Historical Catalogue. Trafford. ISBN 978-1-4120-5466-9.
• Horesh, Niv (2004). "The Transition from Coinage to Paper Money in China: Hallmarks of Statehood in Global Perspective, 8th Century BC to 1935 AD". Journal of the Institute of Asian Studies. 21 (2): 1–26.
• Peng, Xinwei (1988). Zhongguo huobi shi 中国货币史 [A Monetary History of China]. Shanghai: Shanghai renmin chubanshe. The book has been translated into English by Edward 11. Kaplan as A Monetary History of China (Bellingham, WA: Western Washington, 1994).