Chinese token (alternative currency)

Chinese tokens (Traditional Chinese: 中國代用幣; Simplified Chinese: 中国代用币; Pinyin: zhōng guó dài yòng bì) were an alternative currency in the form of token coins produced in China during the late Qing dynasty around the time of the Taiping Rebellion in the province of Jiangsu but not by the Taiping government, which had issued its own currency. Later tokens were again issued in Jiangsu during the Japanese occupation. These tokens were typically made by merchants and local businesses as well as local authorities and had nominal values denominated in their value in cash coins.

During the Qing dynasty

Qing dynasty era Chinese tokens were cast in denominations of 100 cash, 200 cash, 500 cash, and 1000 cash as well as 1 chuàn (壹串, or 100 cash coins), 2 chuàn (贰串, or 200 cash coins), and 5 chuàn (伍串, or 500 cash coins) as the contemporary definition of a "string of cash coins" (串) in the province of Jiangsu at the time was a hundred cash coins but these tokens also had denominations of 1 guàn (一貫, or 1000 cash coins). The numbers that these Jiangsu tokens were denominated in were an indication that of economic instability in the region at the time as the difference between their intrinsic and nominal value was significant. In addition to their nominal value it was common for these Chinese tokens to contain various features of Chinese charms such as "good luck" symbols, and unlike most contemporary coins these Chinese tokens may also contain chop marks which were only a feature of silver coinage such as dragon dollars at the time. Chinese tokens often had coin-like inscriptions such as wàn lì tōng bǎo (萬曆通寶), but also contained other inscriptions describing their nominal value like bǎi hé tong yuán (百合同元, "this coin has the same worth as 100 of the primary currency"), chuán bù liú shǐ (傳不流矢, "(this token) circulates without losing value"), yì qiān wén zhèng (一仟文正, "(this token) is equal to one thousand cash coins"), and yì bǎi wén zhèng (一百文正) which means "one hundred cash coins only"). These Chinese tokens often had inscriptions usually found on Chinese charms and amulets like xiáng qìng róng huá (祥慶榮華, "happiness and celebration, prosperity and high position") and rì yòng guāng huī (日用光輝, "for daily use is glorious") and could also contain other charm features such as the eight trigrams. Some Chinese tokens could also resemble Jiā Qìng Tōng Bǎo (嘉慶通寶) cash coins but with a serrated edge.

Lead tokens

Two series of lead cash coins, one with the inscription "Shengji Zuoyong" (生記作用), the other with the inscription "Hengji Dangshi" (亨記當十), are said to have circulated as an alternative currency in the Jiaxing Prefecture, Zhejiang Province during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period, following the occupation of the region by the rebel government.