50 Cash - Xianfeng Zhongbao, Boo-su

The Xianfeng-era large cash issues were an emergency fiscal measure, struck from 1853 onward as the Qing court scrambled to finance suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom — a civil war that would ultimately kill somewhere between 20 and 30 million people. Denominations ballooned absurdly fast; the 50-cash piece was modest compared to the 500 and 1000-cash coins that followed, most of which were so poorly received that provincial boards refused to accept them at face value within months of issue.

The Suzhou mint attribution places this coin within a provincial operation already under severe strain. Suzhou fell to Taiping forces in 1860.