List of Chinese cash coins by inscription
Chinese cash coins were first produced during the Warring States period, and they became standardised as the Ban Liang (半兩) coinage during the Qin dynasty which followed. Over the years, cash coins have had many different inscriptions, and the Wu Zhu (五銖) inscription, which first appeared under the Han dynasty, became the most commonly used inscription and was often used by succeeding dynasties for 700 years until the introduction of the Kaiyuan Tongbao (開元通寳) during the Tang dynasty. This was also the first time regular script was used as all earlier cash coins  exclusively used seal script. During the Song dynasty a large number of different inscriptions was used, and several different styles of Chinese calligraphy were used, even on coins with the same inscriptions produced during the same period. These cash coins are known as "matched coins" (對錢). This was originally pioneered by the Southern Tang. During the Yuan dynasty, largely deprecated copper coinage was abandoned in favour of paper money. This trend continued under the Ming dynasty. Cash coins only contained the era names of the emperor during the Ming dynasty. Due to a naming taboo the term "Yuanbao" (元寶) was  phased out from cash coin inscriptions as the founder of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang had the word "Yuan" (元) in his name. The trend of exclusively using the era names on currencies continued during the Qing dynasty, and all cash coins issued during this period were written in regular script. Below is a list of obverse inscriptions that were used on Chinese cash coins organized by period and/or dynasty. Warring States. During the Warring states period, the first precursors of the Chinese cash coins started to appear. These "early round coins" (圜錢, "huánqián") circulated alongside the knife and spade  money. As most of these early round coins had round holes, the first "true" cash coins were the Yi Hua (一化) produced by the State of Yan. Apart from two small and presumably late coins from the State of Qin, coins from the spade money area have a round hole and refer to the "jin" and "liang" units. Those from the knife money area have a square hole and are denominated in "hua". Round hole, no rims, reverses plain and flat. List of early round coins produced between 350 BC and 220 BC: State of Yan. List of early round  coins produced by the State of Yan between 300 BC and 220 BC: State of Qi. List of early round coins produced by the State of Qi between 300 BC and 220 BC: State of Qin. List of early round coins produced by the State of Qin between 250 BC and 220 BC: Qin dynasty. During the Qin dynasty production of the Ban Liang cash coins continued and its weight was standardised. Western Han dynasty. Under the Western Han dynasty the Ban Liang cash coins of the earlier Qin dynasty were retained until a series of monetary reforms replaced them  first with the San Zhu and then the Wu Zhu, the latter would be continued to be manufactured for around 700 years. Xin dynasty. After Wang Mang usurped the throne he instituted various monetary reforms, in AD 9 he retained the Wu Zhu cash coins but introduced two new types of Knife money, between AD 9 and 10 he introduced an impossibly complex system involving tortoise shell, cowries, gold, silver, six round copper coins, and a reintroduction of the spade money in ten denominations. In AD 14, all these tokens were abolished, and replaced by another type of spade coin  and new round coins. List of cash coins issued by the Xin dynasty: Chengjia. The rebel Gongsun Shu cast iron cash coins based on the Wu Zhu's of the Western Han dynasty in his rebel state of Chengjia in present-day Sichuan: Eastern Han dynasty. The Eastern Han dynasty only cast Wu Zhu (五銖) cash coins. Kingdom of Khotan. List of cash coins produced by the Kingdom of Khotan: Three Kingdoms. List of Chinese cash coins issued during Three Kingdoms period: Kingdom of Kucha. List of cash coins produced by the Kingdom of Kucha: Jin dynasty and Sixteen Kingdoms . List of Chinese cash coins produced during the Jin dynasty and Sixteen Kingdoms period: Northern and Southern dynasties. List of cash coins produced by the Northern and Southern dynasties: Sui dynasty. The Sui dynasty only cast Wu Zhu (五銖) cash coins. Tang dynasty. List of cash coins issued by the Tang dynasty: Local issues. List of local issue cash coins of the Tang dynasty: Yan dynasty. List of cash coins issued by the Great Yan dynasty during the An Lushan Rebellion: Uyghur Khaganate. The Uyghur Khaganate manufactured a cash coin with an Old Uyghur inscription under the reign of Boquq  Khagan. A later cash coin is known to have been cast by the Uyghurs but it is not known when it was manufactured. Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. Later Liang dynasty. List of cash coins produced by the Later Liang dynasty (907–923): Later Tang dynasty. List of cash coins produced by the Later Tang dynasty (923–936): Later Jin dynasty (936–947). List of cash coins produced by the Later Jin dynasty (936–947): Later Han dynasty. List of cash coins produced by the Later Han dynasty (948–951): Later Zhou dynasty. List of cash coins produced by the Later Zhou dynasty (951–960): Former  Shu. List of cash coins attributed to the Former Shu Kingdom (907–925): Kingdom of Min. List of cash coins attributed to the Kingdom of Min (909–945): Kingdom of Chu. List of cash coins attributed to the Kingdom of Chu (907–951): Later Shu. Cash coins produced by the Later Shu (926–965) include: Southern Tang Kingdom. Cash coins manufactured by the Southern Tang Kingdom (937–975) include: Southern Han Kingdom. The cash coins produced by the Southern Han dynasty were: Crude lead coins. Crude lead cash coins attributed to the Southern Han/Chu area (900–971): There is a very great variety of such  coins; some have crescents on the reverse. The Kai character sometimes looks like yong (). Characters and legends often reversed because the incompetent workmen had not mastered the art of engraving in negative to make the moulds. Some specimens have meaningless characters. Cash coins with hybrid inscriptions from this same area: These cash coins are typical of the hybrid inscriptions formed by combinations of inappropriate characters. They also have series numbers on the reverse. Note that the radical "" is missing from this Wu Zhu (五朱) coin. One variant of the Wu Wu (五五) coin has the Xin dynasty inscription Huo Quan  (貨泉) on its reverse. You Zhou Autonomous Region. The following cash coins were produced in the You Zhou Autonomous region (which enjoyed virtual independence from the rest of the empire) between 900 and 914: Liao dynasty. Liao dynasty coins (like some contemporary Song dynasty coins) can be read top-right-bottom-left (clockwise), but unlike the Song's coinage never appeared top-bottom-right-left. Liao dynasty era cash coins have appeared in both Chinese and Khitan scripts, but the latter can more accurately be described as a type of Chinese numismatic charms as they weren't meant for circulation . List of cash coins produced by the Khitan-led Liao dynasty: Northern Song dynasty. The cash coins of the Song dynasty are notable in the aspect that many cash coins of the same era that use the same inscription and have the same nominal value come in multiple Chinese calligraphic fonts. Many Emperors of the Song dynasty personally wrote the calligraphy to be inscribed on the cash coin. There are generally three scripts used on Song dynasty era cash coins which include Regular script, Seal script, and Running hand script/Grass script. The reading order of Song dynasty era cash  coins exist in top-bottom-right-left and top-right-bottom-left orders. List of cash coins produced by the Northern Song dynasty: Sui ethnic minority during the Northern Song dynasty. In 2004 a coin produced by the Sui people of Guizhou was discovered dating to the Northern Song dynasty most likely produced between 1008 and 1016, this coin had the inscription "dà zhōng xiáng fú" (大中祥符) on one side and the word "wealth" written in Sui script on the other side, as this is the only known coin produced by the Sui people it established that they don't  have a numismatic tradition like the Han Chinese have. Great Shu Kingdom. In the year 993 a group of tea farmers and landless tenant farmers under the leadership if Wang Xiaobo rebelled against the Northern Song dynasty, in the year 994 after Wang Xiaobo died his brother-in-law Li Shun proclaimed himself to be the "King of the Great Shu Kingdom" (大蜀王, "dà shǔ wáng") in Chengdu after he captured the city ("Shu" being an archaic name for Sichuan). Li Shun was defeated and killed in the year 995. During his period he used the reign era and produced  cash coins with this "Yingyun" (應運, "yìng yùn") inscription while after his death his former subordinates used the Yinggan (應感) inscription. List of cash coins issued by the Great Shu Kingdom: Southern Song dynasty. Under the Southern Song dynasty it became customary to add the date of issue on the reverse of the coin and as copper shortages and phenomena known as "currency famines" (錢荒) plagued the land both iron cash coins and paper money (in the form of Jiaozi, Guanzi, and Huizi notes) became more common leading to a decline of the production of bronze coinage. List of cash  coins produced by the Southern Song dynasty: The Southern Song dynasty General Liu Guangshi (劉光世) also cast special cash coins with the inscription "Zhaona Xinbao" (招納信寶) to recruit Jin soldiers and allow them to defect to the Song Army, however these weren't meant for circulation. Northern Liao dynasty. A number of cash coins were reported to have the reign titles of Northern Liao dynasty emperors, however as no historical records mention them the authenticity of these coins has been called into question. List of cash coins presumably issued by the Khitan Northern Liao dynasty: Western Liao dynasty (Qara Khitai ). In November 2008, October 2010, and February 2011 three specimens of cash coins produced by the Western Liao were unearthed in Kyrgyzstan, the first specimen of these cash coins were initially thought to bear the inscription "Jixing Yuanbao" (績興元寳) but after the second one was unearthed its inscription was better understood. Western Xia dynasty. The Tangut Western Xia dynasty produced both cash coins with Chinese and Tangut inscriptions. Despite issuing coins the economy of the Tangut Empire mostly relied on barter which is why Western Xia era coins today are rare. With Tangut inscriptions. Coins with Tangut inscriptions: Jin dynasty  (1115–1234). Cash coins produced by the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty compared to earlier Liao dynasty coinage are both of higher quality, and quantity; this is because the Jurchens chose to model their coins more closely after the Song's both in production as superficially in its calligraphic style. List of cash coins produced by the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty: Li Pobei. During a Jin invasion that occurred in November 1125, Li Pobei (李婆備) took advantage of this situation and rebelled against the Northern Song dynasty. He is known to have cast cash coins with the inscription "Taiping Tongbao" (太平通寶). Great  Qi dynasty. In 1130 during the Jin–Song Wars the Jin dynasty had set up a second puppet state called “Da Qi” (after the failed first puppet state, Da Chu), this puppet state briefly produced its own coins until it was defeated by the Song in 1137. Coins produced by the brief Jurchen vassal state include: Eastern Xia dynasty. During a coin hoard in the Russian Far East in 2011 seven cash coins were discovered that bore an inscription which was previously unknown, these coins bore a title alluding to a rebel state that was founded during the Mongol conquest  of the Jin dynasty. List of cash coins issued by the Jurchen-led Eastern Xia dynasty: Mongol Empire (prior to the establishment of the Yuan dynasty). Cash coins issued by the Mongols before 1230: Cash coins issued by the Mongol Empire while it occupied Jin dynasty territory (circa 1230–1280): Yuan dynasty. During the Yuan dynasty, paper money such as the Jiaochao completely replaced copper coinage, during times of inflation Temple coins issued by Buddhist temples became the "de facto" currency. Under Külüg Khan a large number of cash coins were issued to pay for the state's expenditures but these  got phased out in favour of paper currency, it wasn't until the reign of Toghon Temür that the Yuan dynasty attempted to produce cash coins at a large scale again. List of cash coins issued by the Yuan dynasty: Rebels of the Yuan dynasty. During the Red Turban rebellion organised by the White Lotus society; many of its leaders proclaimed their own kingdoms and empires that ruled over different regions of China, the most successful of these was Zhu Yuanzhang's Ming dynasty which would unify China. Though the majority of these countries were short-lived some did produce  their own coinage. Ming dynasty. Under the Ming dynasty the policy of predominantly using paper money (such as the Da Ming Baochao banknotes) which was started under the Mongols would continue until 1505 when Spanish dollars and other silver coins became the dominant currency. Native production of cash coins had ceased between 1375 and 1376, from 1387 until 1379, from 1393 (as paper money superseded cast coinage completely) until 1433, and finally from 1435 until 1503. Yongle Tongbao cash coins were mostly cast for foreign trade. From the Ming dynasty onwards only period titles were used for coin inscriptions and  these period titles would (usually) remain constant throughout the reign of an Emperor. Note that under the reign of the Zhengde Emperor no copper-alloy cash coins were minted however a very large number of Zhengde Tongbao (正德通寶) coin amulets exist, the production of these coin-like amulets started from the late Ming dynasty period and these amulets are still being produced today. Guizhou local issues. During the Hongzhi period from 1488 until 1505 some Tribal Commissioners in the province of Guizhou issued their own cash coins, rather than being bases on reign titles the inscriptions were based on place  names. Yunnan local issues. Under the Ming dynasty the territory which used to belong to the Dali Kingdom cast their own coins, these cash coins were issued in the province of Yunnan under the reign of the Hongzhi Emperor and are known to be of poor workmanship and crude casting, it is often unknown if these cash coins were cast by the Bai people in Dali, the Hmong tribes living in the area, or one of the many other tribes that live in Yunnan as records of their casting weren't bring kept. Many of these cash coins were also  cast by using regular cash coins as "mother coins" which explains their rather crude appearances. These Yunnan local issue cash coins include: Ming-Qing transitional period. This is a list of cash coins produced during the transition from Ming to Qing. Southern Ming dynasty. List of cash coins produced by the Southern Ming dynasty: Kingdom of Tungning (Taiwan). Under Koxinga the Kingdom of Tungning (which was a state loyal to the Southern Ming dynasty) had ordered Yongli Tongbao cash coins to be produced (presumably) in Nagasaki, these coins circulated exclusively in Taiwan. The production of these coins lasted until 1682 . Later Jin dynasty (1616–1636). The following coins were issued by the Later Jin dynasty: ! Inscription !! Latin script !! Denominations !! Years of mintage !! Khan !! Image