1/2 Liang Pre-Qin Dynasty, State of Qin, light type

The State of Qin operated a remarkably disciplined monetary policy in its final century before unification, actively suppressing the spade and knife coinages used by rival states while standardizing its own banliang series. This lighter-weight variant reflects a deliberate reduction from the earlier heavy banliang standard — likely a fiscal measure during the sustained military campaigns that consumed Qin's resources across the Warring States period. By 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang would mandate the banliang as the sole legal coinage of the unified empire, making these transitional light-type pieces the immediate precursor to China's first imperial monetary standard.