Xinjiang Coins - Red Cash (Qing Imperial Cast Coins)

Red Cash (Qing Imperial Cast Coins)

China's Qing (Manchu) dynasty began casting coins in the far-Western region of "Xinjiang" (Chinese for "The New Frontier," sometimes transliterated as "Sinkiang") in 1760, only one year after the emperor Qianlong's generals conquered the region's capitols of Kashgar and Yarkand. Not only did this primarily Muslim and Turkic-speaking region represent a distinct cultural landscape for the empire, but also a special economic environment. The many differences between the coinages of Xinjiang and the rest of China reflected the special demands of governing this area. The coins cast in Xinjiang were made from copper, rather than the brass used for the rest of the empire's coinage, leading to the nickname "red cash." These copper coins were valued at five of the standard cash, and provided some continuity with the monetary system used under the region's previous rulers, the Dzungar Mongols. Most of the red cash also displayed mint names in the local Turkic language. Lying far from the empire's center, Xinjiang was somewhat loosely governed by the court, and this is reflected in the great variety of coin types produced, some of them quite innovative. In spite of frequent rebellions and invasions, the coinage of red cash continued on and off through the nineteenth century and into the beginning of the twentieth. The final examples of red cash were cast in 1909 in the name of the last emperor, Xuantong (Puyi), using the same casting technology employed by Chinese mints for 2,000 years. The red cash of Xinjiang are quite popular among Chinese collectors for their abundance of unusual types, and for their connection to the "Silk Road" and "Western Regions" history/mythology. Some of the coins of Qing Xinjiang represent surprising breaks from Chinese coinage traditions. Most types are trilingual, and errors were abundant. Among the numerous types of red cash there are both great rarities and common pieces with strong historical significance.