page_title: Economy of the Han dynasty
section_title: Variations in currency
hierarchical_section_title: Economy of the Han dynasty / Monetary system and urbanization / Variations in currency
caption_attribution_description: English: Western Han Dynasty gold discs, Shaanxi History Museum Info provided by the museum shown below: Gold Discs Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 8) Excavated from Dongshilipu village, Tanjia town, Weiyang District, Xi'an City Also called Cake-shaped Gold. Altogether 219 discs, each weighs 227.6-254.4g, were excavated from a hoard, their numbers are the biggest among the unearthed gold discs of Han dynasty. Most of them bear characters, marks or stamps or impressions. They were not the circulating currency, and were mainly used as rewards and gifts.中文（繁體）‎: 陝西歷史博物館藏西漢金餅 博物館提供資料如下: 金餅 西漢 (公元前206年 - 公元8年) 西安市未央區譚家鄉東十里鋪村出土 也稱餅金。共219枚，每枚重227.6-254.4克，總重量54116.1克，是2011年海昏侯墓发掘以前漢代金餅出土數量最多的一次。絕大多數有戳記、戳印，部份兼有文字、符號等刻銘。非流通貨幣，主要用於賞賜和饋贈。
context_page_description: The economy of the Han dynasty of ancient China experienced upward and downward movements in its economic cycle, periods of economic prosperity and decline. It is normally divided into three periods: Western Han, the Xin dynasty, and Eastern Han. The Xin regime, established by the former regent Wang Mang, formed a brief interregnum between lengthy periods of Han rule. Following the fall of Wang Mang, the Han capital was moved eastward from Chang'an to Luoyang. In consequence, historians have named the succeeding eras Western Han and Eastern Han respectively.
  The Han economy was defined by significant population growth, increasing urbanization, unprecedented growth of industry and trade, and government experimentation with nationalization. Another large component of the government is that it was run by influential families who had the most money. In this era, the levels of minting and circulation of coin currency grew significantly, forming the foundation of a stable monetary system. The Silk Road facilitated the establishment of trade and tributary exchanges with foreign countries across Eurasia, many of which were previously unknown to the people of ancient China.
context_section_description: During the early Western Han period, founding Emperor Gaozu of Han (r. 202–195 BC) closed government mints in favor of coin currency produced by the private sector. Gaozu's widow Empress Lü Zhi, as grand empress dowager, abolished private minting in 186 BC. She first issued a government-minted bronze coin weighing 5.7 g (0.20 oz), but issued another, weighing 1.5 g (0.053 oz), in 182 BC. The change to the lighter coin caused widespread inflation, so in 175 BC Emperor Wen of Han (r. 180–157 BC) lifted the ban on private minting; private mints were required to mint coins weighing exactly 2.6 g (0.092 oz). Private minting was again abolished in 144 BC during the end of Emperor Jing of Han's (r. 157–141 BC) reign. Despite this, the  2.6 g (0.092 oz) bronze coin was issued by both central and local commandery governments until 120 BC, when for one year it was replaced with a coin weighing 1.9 g (0.067 oz). Other currencies were introduced around this time. Token money notes made of embroidered white deerskin, with a face value of 400,000 coins, were used to collect government revenues. Emperor Wu also introduced three tin-silver alloy coins worth 3,000, 500, and 300 bronze coins, respectively; all of these weighed less than 120 g (4.2 oz).
  In 119 BC, the government issued the bronze wushu (五銖) coin weighing 3.2 g (0.11 oz); the coin remained the standard currency in China until the Tang dynasty (618–907 AD). During the brief interruptive Xin dynasty (9–23 AD) of Wang Mang (45 BC – 23 AD), the government introduced several new denominations in 7, 9, 10, and 14 AD. These new units (including bronze knife money, gold, silver, tortoise, and cowry shell currencies) often had a market price unequal to their weight and debased the value of coin currency. Once the widespread civil wars following Wang's overthrow abated, the wushu coin was reintroduced by Emperor Guangwu of Han (r. 25–57 AD) in 40 AD at the instigation of Ma Yuan (14 BC – 49 AD). Since commandery-issued coins were often of inferior quality and lighter weight, the central government closed all commandery mints in 113 BC and granted the central government's Superintendent of Waterways and Parks the exclusive right to mint coins. Although the issue of central government coinage was transferred to the office of the Minister of Finance (one of Nine Ministers of the central government) by the beginning of Eastern Han, the central government's monopoly over the issue of coinage persisted.
  Gary Lee Todd (Ph.D. in History from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Professor of History at Sias International University in Xinzheng, Henan, China) provides the following images of coins issued during the Western Han and Xin periods on his website:
caption: Western Han dynasty (202 BC - 9 AD) gold discs (also called cake-shaped gold), Shaanxi History Museum; excavated from Dongshilipu village, Tanjia town, Weiyang District, Xi'an City, Shaanxi; altogether there are 219 discs, each weighing 227.6-254.4g, their numbers being the biggest among the unearthed gold discs of the Han dynasty. Most of them bear characters, marks, stamps or impressions. They were not meant for circulation as currency, and were mainly used as rewards and gifts.
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