50 Cash - Qianyuan Zhongbao, privately cast

Qianyuan Zhongbao coinage was authorized in 758 under Emperor Suzong as the Tang dynasty scrambled to finance military operations against An Lushan's rebel forces — one of the most destructive civil conflicts in Chinese history, ultimately killing an estimated 36 million people. The officially sanctioned 50-cash valuation was an act of fiscal desperation, inflating face value far beyond intrinsic metal content and triggering immediate counterfeiting.

Private casting proliferated so rapidly that the court was forced to acknowledge it could not suppress the practice. Privately cast examples like this one typically show cruder workmanship than government issues, with less regular casting sprues and thinner flan preparation.