1/2 Liang Type 1

The ban liang ("half liang") became the first standardized coinage of a unified China when Qin Shi Huang abolished the diverse currency systems of the six conquered states following unification in 221 BC. The weight standard, nominally eight zhu, was almost certainly never consistently achieved in practice — surviving examples vary considerably, and the Qin administration's ability to enforce metallurgical uniformity across a newly conquered empire was limited at best.

This Type 1 classification, per Hartill's sequencing, represents the earliest production phase. The casting technology drew directly from the Zhou-period foundry tradition the Qin inherited.