Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
10 Cash - Qianyuan Zhongbao
| Issuer | Tang Dynasty |
|---|---|
| Year | 758-759 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Round with a square hole |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Chinese (traditional, clerical script) |
| Obverse lettering | 乾元重寶 |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Issued by imperial decree in 758 under Emperor Suzong as an emergency fiscal measure during the An Lushan Rebellion, the Qianyuan Zhongbao was assigned a face value of ten cash — ten times a standard single-cash piece — while containing far less than ten times the copper. The scheme was a deliberate debasement, and the population knew it. Merchants refused the coins at face value almost immediately, and within months a second variety valued at fifty cash was introduced, compounding the problem.
The resulting monetary chaos forced a formal revaluation in 759, collapsing the ten-cash piece to a single-cash in official exchange. Production ceased shortly after.