50 Zhu - Yuan Wu Zhu, 'Two pillar' type

The "Two pillar" Wu Zhu was issued under Emperor Yuan of the Liang dynasty following the catastrophic An Lushan-style collapse triggered by Hou Jing's rebellion, which had already gutted the dynasty's administrative and economic infrastructure by 548. Casting a coin nominally valued at fifty times a standard Wu Zhu was less an economic policy than a fiscal emergency measure — the Liang court lacked the resources to mint adequate quantities of properly weighted coinage and used inflated denominations to paper over the shortfall.

The two internal pillars bridging rim to central hole are the diagnostic feature Hartill uses to distinguish this type from related issues of the period.