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Daqian

Daqian (Traditional Chinese: 大錢, "big cash") are large-denomination cash coins produced in the Qing dynasty starting from 1853 until 1890. Large denomination cash coins were previously used in earlier Chinese dynasties and had faced similar issues as 19th-century Daqian. The term referred to cash coins with a denomination of 4 ''wén'' or higher.

Under the Xianfeng Emperor the government of the Qing dynasty faced large crises, most notably the Taiping Rebellion, which had heavily burdened the government's expenditures, as a response the government had introduced a large number of monetary reforms including the introduction of cash coins with high nominal values, while their intrinsic values were significantly lower. These cash coins were not well received by the Chinese public and their circulation was not long as the market would reject them rather quickly after their introduction. After 1855 all denominations of the Daqian other than the 10 ''wén'' ceased to be produced, while the 10 ''wén'' cash coins would continue to circulate at only 20% their nominal value.

Most Daqian were copper-alloy cash coins, but iron and lead Daqian were also produced during the Xianfeng era.

The Chinese Daqian happened concurrent with and may have inspired similar debasements of cash coinages in Tokugawa Japan, Joseon-era Korea, the Ryukyu islands, and Nguyễn-period Vietnam. Provided by Wikipedia