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copper cash

銅銭 ／ copper-cash　—　Making

The small everyday coin made of copper.

Ban liang coin Ban liang coinQin Kaiyuan Tongbao Kaiyuan TongbaoTang, first cast 621 Wadō Kaichin Wadō KaichinAD 708–
A photograph of what this word names.

A cash coin with a square hole, used in East Asia for over a thousand years. As the value of a single coin was small, they were strung together and carried in groups. ⚠ When the price of copper itself rose, people would melt down the coins to sell as copper, leading to a shortage of coinage.