Wang Mang's monetary reforms are among the most chaotic episodes in Chinese coinage history. His second reform, enacted in 10 AD, introduced a bewildering multi-denomination system that the population largely refused to accept — merchants continued using the banned Wu Zhu coins in defiance, and Wang Mang responded with threats of enslavement for violators. The 1 Cash sat at the absolute bottom of this failed hierarchy, a denomination so small it was almost economically meaningless within the system Wang Mang had constructed.
His currency experiments collapsed along with his Xin dynasty in 23 AD.
Wang Mang's monetary reforms are among the most chaotic episodes in Chinese coinage history. His second reform, enacted in 10 AD, introduced a bewildering multi-denomination system that the population largely refused to accept — merchants continued using the banned Wu Zhu coins in defiance, and Wang Mang responded with threats of enslavement for violators. The 1 Cash sat at the absolute bottom of this failed hierarchy, a denomination so small it was almost economically meaningless within the system Wang Mang had constructed.
His currency experiments collapsed along with his Xin dynasty in 23 AD.