Cash (Chinese coin)

Cash
Replicas of various ancient to 19th century cast cash coins in various metals found in China, Korea and Japan.
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	方孔錢
Simplified Chinese	方孔钱
Literal meaning	"square-holed money"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin fāng kǒng qián Yue: Cantonese Jyutping fong1 hung2 cin4 Southern Min Hokkien POJ hong-khóng-chîⁿ Tâi-lô hong-khóng-tsînn
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	銅錢
Simplified Chinese	铜钱
Literal meaning	"copper money"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin tóng qián Yue: Cantonese Jyutping tung4 cin4 Southern Min Hokkien POJ tâng-chîⁿ Tâi-lô tâng-tsînn
Second alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	銅幣
Simplified Chinese	铜币
Literal meaning	"copper currency"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin tóng bì Yue: Cantonese Jyutping tung4 bai6 Southern Min Hokkien POJ tâng-pè Tâi-lô tâng-pè
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	đồng tiền
Chữ Nôm	銅錢
Japanese name
Kanji	銅銭
Kana	どうせん
Transcriptions Romanization Dōsen
Indonesian name
Indonesian	uang kèpèng / uang keping / pitis

The cash or qian was a type of coin of China and the Sinosphere, used from the 4th century BC until the 20th century AD, characterised by their round outer shape and a square center hole (Chinese: 方穿; pinyin: fāng chuān; Jyutping: fong1 cyun1; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hong-chhoan). Originally cast during the Warring States period, these coins continued to be used for the entirety of Imperial China. The last Chinese cash coins were cast in the first year of the Republic of China. Generally most cash coins were made from copper or bronze alloys, with iron, lead, and zinc coins occasionally used less often throughout Chinese history. Rare silver and gold cash coins were also produced. During most of their production, cash coins were cast, but during the late Qing dynasty, machine-struck cash coins began to be made. As the cash coins produced over Chinese history were similar, thousand year old cash coins produced during the Northern Song dynasty continued to circulate as valid currency well into the early twentieth century.^[1]

In the modern era, these coins are considered to be Chinese “good luck coins”; they are hung on strings and round the necks of children, or over the beds of sick people. They hold a place in various traditional Chinese techniques, such as Yijing divination, as well as traditional Chinese medicine, and feng shui. Currencies based on the Chinese cash coins include the Japanese mon, Korean mun, Ryukyuan mon, and Vietnamese văn.