Hongqian

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"Red cash coins" (traditional Chinese: 紅錢; simplified Chinese: 红钱; pinyin: hóng qián; French: Sapèques rouges; Uyghur: قىزىل پۇل) are the cash coins produced in Xinjiang under Qing rule following the conquest of the Dzungar Khanate by the Qing dynasty in 1757.^[1] While in Northern Xinjiang the monetary system of China proper, with standard cash coins, was adopted in Southern Xinjiang where the pūl (ﭘول) coins of Dzungaria circulated earlier, the pūl-system was continued but some of the old Dzungar pūl coins were melted down to make Qianlong Tongbao (乾隆通寶) cash coins. Because pūl coins were usually around 98% copper, they tended to be very red in colour which gave the cash coins based on the pūl coins the nickname "red cash coins".^[1]

Because of their high copper content, "red cash coins" were usually valued at 10 wén a piece,^[1] but at times were only valued at 5 wén.^[2]