2 Cash Pattern, Fujian Tongbao

Fujian Province struck this pattern in 1912 as part of early Republican-era experiments with a decimal cash system that never gained traction nationally. The provincial mint had been retooled with Western machinery under the late Qing, and these brass patterns reflect an attempt to bridge the old cash denomination structure with modern milled production — an awkward compromise that satisfied neither conservative merchants nor reformist administrators. The Republican government ultimately abandoned provincial cash coinage in favor of standardized yuan-based issues, leaving patterns like this without a production mandate.