Introduction

For some time now I've found Chinese cash coins of interest. Although some may find them unappealing as the overall style hasn't changed significantly for over 2000 years, I find them attractive for that very reason. Even within the confines of the basic design, there is quite a variation in the styles and types. This article illustrates some of these features. All images in this article are at 100 DPI and are thus relative in size to each other.

History

In the early days of Chinese currency there were many types of items which were used for the exchange of goods. Cowrie shells - actual shells, as well as carved imitations, knives or swords, and even small stones which may be currency or may just be a burial artifact were used. As time passed, metal objects began to take the place of some of these items and thus a representative coinage was established. Between 400 and 225BC this knife "coin" for instance, represented an actual knife in the transaction.

As years continued to pass, these knife coins were replaced by what is now recognized as cash coinage - round discs with square holes in the center. This cash coin is uniface and roughly cast, and has the inscription "yi tao" - one knife - on its obverse. Its clear that this cash coin was of the type that replaced the knife coinage ca. 225BC. It is this overall style that propagated for over the next 2 millennia. 

Although officially ending with the last Emperor in 1911, certain provinces continued production for somewhat longer. Yunnan is such a province as seen by this 1912 transitional 10 cash. Note that the style really is substantially similar to the coin issued 2000 years earlier.


Writing Style

The original cash coins have inscriptions with characters that bear little resemblance to the characters used today. I'm told that even native Chinese speakers are unable to read them due to their antiquity. The upper of these two coins is from the Western Han Dynasty, 179-157BC, and has the legend "Pan Liang". The lower of these two coins is from the Wang Mang Interregnum, 7-22AD, and has the legend "Huo-ch'uan".

Not much time passed before characters were used that are still in use today. The upper of these two coins is a cash coin of the Tang Dynasty, 618-626, with the legend "K'ai-yuan t'ung-pao" (The Currency of the K'ai-yuan Period). Note the "yuan" character - that's the same character as used on this 1997 Hong Kong handover commemorative (next to the 10 on the reverse) - a coin minted over 1300 years later.
 

Other scripts were also used. This coin of the Yuan Dynasty, 1310, is written in Mongol seal writing which reads "Ta-yuan t'ung-pao".

This coin of the Ching dynasty, 1616-1627, is written in Manchu script which reads "Abkai fulingga han jiha" (The Imperial coin of the Heavenly Mandate).

Composition

Although most cash are copper or bronze, other metals were also used. The upper of these two coins is a cash coin of the Five Dynasties (Southern Han) period, 907-960, and is made of lead. The lower of these two coins is a 3 cash coin (note the 3 as the lower character on the reverse) of the Southern Sung Dynasty, 1192, and is made of iron. Due to the softness of lead and the tendency of iron to rust, fewer of these coins have survived and are thus more uncommon than ones in copper or bronze.
 

Occasionally even the same issue of coin was minted in multiple metals. The upper of these two Chihli Province 10 Cash, 1851-1861, is cast brass, but the lower is cast iron. Note that the characters are identical, although the sizes and metals differ.

Minting Methods

Most cast coins were cast in molds, but in the latter half of the 19th and the early 20th century, some provinces started to move to milled coinage. This cash coin of Kwangtung Province, 1890-1908, is one such milled coin. The fields are smoother and the characters more uniform in height than the cast cash.

 Size

Although the size of any given denomination varied with the current economic prosperity, in general, higher denomination coins were larger than those of lower denominations. The upper of these three coins is an uncommon cash coin of the Wang Mang Interregnum, 7-22AD. The center coin, for comparison, is a U.S. Morgan dollar. The lower of these three coins is a 100 Cash (note the 100 at the bottom of the reverse) of Szechuan Province, 1851-1861. Yes, those are to scale. If carrying silver dollars seems cumbersome, consider carrying the 100 Cash.

Errors and Varieties

Cash coins are also not without errors and varieties. Although the coins were nearly always cast rather than struck, not every coin was perfect. The upper of these two coins shows a slip in the casting on the reverse, and the lower of these two coins shows a rosette, rather than square, hole. There are also certain coins which are thicker than the usual cast, referred to in catalogs as "biscuit" coins.

These two 10 Cash of Hupeh Province, 1851-1861, show another type of variety of cash coins - that of different symbols on a given issue. Although otherwise the same, the lower coin has a crescent added in the upper right of the reverse.

 

By calkinsc@lotn.org
Information provided by: http://www.lotn.org/~calkinsc/coins