100 Cash - Xianfeng Zhongbao, Boo-fu

The Xianfeng-era large cash pieces were emergency issues driven by the catastrophic fiscal demands of suppressing the Taiping Rebellion, which had erupted in 1850 and was consuming imperial revenues at a rate the traditional copper cash system could not support. The Fuzhou Mint was among several provincial facilities pressed into producing these inflated-denomination coins, a deliberate debasement strategy that allowed the Qing government to stretch its monetary supply without actually increasing metal reserves.

Brass rather than the conventional bronze composition signals cost-cutting at the source. These 100-cash pieces circulated at a face value wildly disproportionate to their metal content, fueling the inflation they were meant to relieve.