Zhiqian
Chinese numismatic term
Standard cash (traditional Chinese: 制錢; simplified Chinese: 制钱; pinyin: zhì qián; Manchu: ᡳᠵᡳᡴᠠ; Möllendorff: Durun i jiha), or regulation cash coins, is a term used during the Ming and Qing dynasties of China to refer to standard issue copper-alloy cash coins produced in imperial Chinese mints according to weight and composition standards that were fixed by the imperial government. The term was first used for Hongwu Tongbao cash coins following the abolition of large denomination versions of this cash coin series.
Terminology
The term "Zhiqian" was used to discern full-valued cash coins produced by the imperial government from older ones from the Song dynasty period, which were known as jiuqian (舊錢), and privately produced forgeries of non-standard weights and alloys that were referred to as siqian (私錢) or sizhuqian (私鑄錢).
Other terms used during the Ming dynasty for various types of cash coins include yangqian (样錢, "Model coin"), also known as Beiqian (北錢, "Northern coin"), which referred to full weight (1 qián) and fine quality cash coins had were delivered to Beijing as seigniorage revenue. Fengqian (俸錢, "Stipend coin") which referred to second rate cash coins that had a weight of 0.9 qián and were distributed through the salaries of government officials and emoluments. and Shangqian (賞錢, "Tip money") which is a term used 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.
Design
The design of the standard Chinese cash coin was round, while it had a square centre hole that allowed them to be strung together. The inner rim as well as the outer rim of the cash coin was slightly elevated, and on the obverse side of the coin was the era name (or reign motto) of the reigning emperor, during the Ming dynasty the reverse side of their cash coins tended to be blank, while Qing dynasty period cash coins often contained mint marks.
Ming dynasty
In the year 1361 the Ming dynasty established its first imperial mint Baoyuanju (寶源局) in the capital city of Yingtian, by Zhu Yuanzhang who at the time ruled under the title of "Prince of Wu" and created the mint before the Mongol Yuan dynasty was driven out of China. The first cash coins produced by the Baoyuanju had the inscription Dazhong Tongbao (大中通寶), these new cash coins continued circulating and co-existing next to older cash coins.
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