1000 Cash - Xianfeng Yuanbao, Boo-he

The Xianfeng-era large-denomination cash coins were an emergency fiscal measure, issued from 1853 onward as the Qing treasury buckled under the cost of suppressing the Taiping Rebellion. Producing 1000-cash pieces in brass rather than the traditional copper alloy was itself a concession to resource shortages. The Board of Revenue Mint in Beijing, known as the Boo-he, was among the first and most prolific issuers of these inflated denominations, though public confidence in them collapsed almost immediately — merchants routinely discounted them against their face value, and hoarding of older standard-weight cash was widespread.

At 57mm, this is among the larger physical expressions of that monetary desperation. The series was officially curtailed by 1859, partly due to rampant counterfeiting that the government lacked the capacity to police.