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| cash coins | |
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| Name | cash coin |
cash coins are a class of round, usually bronze or copper-alloy coins with a central square or round hole, widely used in East, Southeast, and parts of Central Asia for over two millennia. They played a central role in monetary circulation, taxation, tribute, and everyday transactions in polities ranging from dynasties such as the Han dynasty and Song dynasty to states like the Tokugawa shogunate and the Qing dynasty, and interacted with trade networks including the Silk Road and Maritime Silk Road. Their form and inscriptions link them to imperial authorities, religious institutions, and commercial guilds across regions from China to Vietnam and Korea.
Cash coin objects are typically circular with a central aperture and carry inscriptions naming issuing authorities, reign titles, or mint marks associated with rulers like Emperor Gaozu of Tang or officials in administrations such as the Ming dynasty Board of Revenue. Typical technical attributes reference minting centers like Kaifeng, Hangzhou, Beijing, Yangzhou, and Nanjing and connect to institutional frameworks such as the Great Ming Code era fiscal systems. Design elements also reflect influences from courts like the Liao dynasty and Jurchen Jin dynasty as well as regional capitals like Seoul and Hanoi.
Origins trace to early monetary experiments by polities such as the Zhou dynasty and the standardization drives associated with reformers under rulers like Qin Shi Huang and administrators of the Han dynasty. Subsequent innovations occurred during eras of fragmentation and consolidation—examples include monetary policies enacted by the Three Kingdoms regimes, the minting programs of the Sui dynasty, reforms under Tang dynasty chancellors, and the commercialization surge of the Song dynasty. Cross-border flows involved traders from Persia, Arab Caliphate, and Srivijaya interacting with East Asian currencies, while later contacts with European actors like the Dutch East India Company and the British East India Company altered circulation patterns.
Circulatory regimes adapted coinage to local contexts: Korean states such as the Goryeo dynasty and Joseon dynasty produced distinctive issues; Vietnamese dynasties including the Lý dynasty, Trần dynasty, and Nguyễn dynasty struck local variants; Japanese provinces under the Muromachi period and the Edo period saw both locally cast and imported types. Southeast Asian polities—the Ayutthaya Kingdom, Majapahit, and Khmer Empire—integrated cash coinage into tribute and market exchange. Frontier and nomadic polities like the Khitan Liao and Mongol Empire adopted or adapted the form, and colonial encounters involving the Portuguese Empire, Spanish Empire, and French colonial empire affected monetary regimes in ports such as Macau, Manila, and Hanoi.
Manufacturing used techniques evolving from hammered and cast methods to machine-assisted striking introduced by contacts with industrial actors like the British Empire. Traditional casting in clay or sand molds and later in piece-molds occurred in workshops near urban centers such as Suzhou and Fuzhou, overseen by officials from institutions like the Ministry of Revenue and local magistrates in jurisdictions exemplified by Yangzhou Prefecture. Metal compositions included bronze, brass, copper, leaded alloys, and occasionally iron; episodes of debasement link to fiscal crises in periods like the late Tang dynasty and the collapse of the Ming dynasty. Mintmarks and assayer practices reflect administrative reforms seen under rulers such as Kangxi Emperor and Qianlong Emperor.
Cash coins functioned within tax systems, salary payments to institutions like the Imperial examination bureaucracy, and as tribute in diplomatic exchanges exemplified by missions to the Ming court and Qing court. They feature in material culture—amulets, burial goods, and ritual paraphernalia associated with temples such as Shaolin Monastery and local cults—and influenced artisanal crafts in markets of Guangzhou, Nanjing, and Hanoi. Their circulation affected price regimes in commercial hubs like Kaifeng and Yangzhou and played roles in monetary crises discussed in studies of the Song dynasty financial revolution and the silver flows tied to the Spanish Empire's American silver trade.
Numismatic scholarship on cash coin artifacts developed in collections of institutions including the British Museum, National Museum of China, Smithsonian Institution, and the British Library, and among collectors such as 19th-century merchants involved with the East India Company. Authentication methods use die-study, metallurgical analysis drawing on techniques from laboratories associated with universities like Peking University and University of Oxford, and provenance work tracing hoards found in archaeological sites managed by agencies such as the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. Modern catalogues reference standard works produced by scholars in societies like the Royal Numismatic Society and museum cataloguing projects in cities such as Shanghai, Seoul, and Hanoi.