Ban Liang (半兩）Bronze cash coins of the Qin Dynasty, the first unified dynasty of China. (221-206 BC). Ban Liang (半两) or half tael. 30mm 8g. The standard coinage of the empire. The design actually predates the founding of the dynasty and was used much earlier when the Qin state was vying for supremacy during the warring states period. When the first Emperor Ying Zheng (Shi Huang Di) United the country, he standardized the monetary system by adopting the currency of his kingdom as the national standard. Whilst an entire chapter can be written about the first emperor, his key achievements included establishing a unified kingdom, administration and legacies which lasted 2 millenia. In fact, China was named after his dynasty (previously romanized as Chin). Note however that although the Qin Dynasty was short lived, the Ban Liang lasted through the earlier part of the succeeding Western Han Dynasty. Variations exist for the Ban Liang which confuses the actual era of issuance. But generally the smaller issues at around 5-6 g and lower belonged to the later Qin early Han, 30-31mm at between 7-11g are closer to the Qin standard whilst larger ones hovering around 12 g or more were attributed to the warring states period.
Thanks for this. I have been after a coin of Shi Huang Di for a while now. However, knowing how to find out what coins were his is a bit tricky.
In reality, there is no way to tell for certain. It is just that some dimensions/styles are more probable to be in one era than others. I have two pictured examples of probable Qin coins (though I have a few more unpictured). 34mm and 10.9g 36mm and ~8g
Those are Western Han. The “Ban Liang” denomination continued after the Qin even though the coins had far less than a Ban Liang (“Half Liang”, or 12 zhu, or ~6-8g) of metal in them.
Thanks.. there is a logical reason behind the weightage attribution. The Ban Liang was supposed to be close and more accurate in their weightage against their denomination. As the Dynasty decline and public works take a toll on the economy, the finesse and weightage takes a toll rendering it closer to a denominative model. Anyways there is a pretty good article written on this as per link below.. http://www.calgarycoin.com/reference/china/china2.htm
