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5000 Cash - Wang Mang First reform
| Issuer | China (ancient) |
|---|---|
| Year | 7-9 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Knife |
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| Obverse description | Knife-shaped cast bronze coin comprising a circular ring-head with a square central perforation, joined to an elongated flat blade tapering slightly toward the foot. Two seal-script ideograms, '一刀' (Yi Dao, meaning 'one knife'), are inlaid in gold within the ring-head, while the remaining three characters, '平五千' (Ping Wu Qian, meaning 'worth five thousand'), are rendered in gold inlay along the upper face of the blade. The gold inlay contrasts strikingly against the dark bronze field, emphasizing the denomination and the authority of Wang Mang's monetary reform. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | 一 刀 平 五 千 (Translation: Yi Dao Ping Wu Qian One knife worth 5,000) |
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| Additional information |
Wang Mang's monetary reforms were among the most ambitious — and catastrophically received — currency interventions in Chinese history. The First Reform of 7 AD introduced a bewildering array of new denominations intended to replace Han coinage, with this 5000-cash piece sitting at the extreme upper end of a system the population largely refused to use. Merchants and commoners continued transacting in the familiar Wu Zhu cash, openly defying imperial edicts that made such use a banishment offense.
The gold inlay work distinguishes this issue from the broader reform coinage. By 9 AD, Wang Mang had proclaimed the Xin dynasty outright and launched a second, even more chaotic reform that rendered the first obsolete within two years of inception.