5 Cash - Daoguang Tongbao, Aksu

Aksu mint operated under unusually complicated logistics: copper had to be transported overland from Yunnan or sourced locally in Xinjiang, where supply was inconsistent and quality variable. The result is that Aksu-struck cash coins from the Daoguang period show wider variation in fabric and alloy color than almost any other mint in the empire. The five-cash denomination itself was a compromise issue, introduced across Xinjiang mints partly to offset chronic small-change shortages in the region following the Jahangir Khoja rebellion of 1826, which had disrupted local commerce severely.