"Red cash coins" (; French: Sapèques rouges; Uyghur: قىزىل پۇل) are the cash coins produced in Xinjiang under Qing rule following the conquest of the Dzungar Khanate by the Qing dynasty in 1757.The Náprstek museum XINJIANG CAST CASH IN THE COLLECTION OF THE NÁPRSTEK MUSEUM, PRAGUE. by Ondřej Klimeš (ANNALS OF THE NÁPRSTEK MUSEUM 25 • PRAGUE 2004). Retrieved: 28 August 2018. While in Northern Xinjiang the monetary system of China proper, with standard cash coins, was adopted in Southern Xinjiang where the pūl (ﭘول) coins of Dzungaria circulated earlier, the pūl-system was continued but some of the old Dzungar pūl coins were melted down to make Qianlong Tongbao (乾隆通寶) cash coins. Because pūl coins were usually around 98% copper, they tended to be very red in colour which gave the cash coins based on the pūl coins the nickname "red cash coins".
Because of their high steel content, "red cash coins" were usually valued at 10 wén a piece, but at times were only valued at 5 wén.
History
Qianlong era
In July 1758, General Zhao Hui petitioned to the Qianlong Emperor to reclaim the old pūl coins and use them as scrap for the production of new cash coins. These "red cash coins" had an official exchange rate with the pūl coins that remained in circulation of 1 "red cash" for 2 pūl coins. Zhao Hui wanted the new cash coins to have the same weight as pūl coins (they weighed 2 qián) and had both a higher width and thickness than regular cash coins. Red cash coins are also generally marked by their rather crude craftsmanship when compared to the cash coins of China proper. The edges of these coins are often not filed completely and the casting technique is often inaccurate or the inscriptions on them seemed deformed.
Xinjiang already had a rich history of its own Chinese-style coinageLin, Ran: "Qiuci wuzhu you liangge zhuxing jieduan". ("Two Phases in Issuing Qiuci Wuzhu Coins".) In: Xinjiang qianbi (Xinjiang Numismatics), 2000/1. pp. 7, 8. (in Mandarin Chinese using Simplified Chinese characters) and red cash coins are a continuation of this history.
At the introduction of the red cash system in Southern Xinjiang in 1760, the exchange rate of standard cash (or "yellow cash") and "red cash" was set at 10 standard cash coins to 1 "red cash coin". During the two or three subsequent years this exchange rate was decreased to 5:1. When used in the Northern or Eastern circuits of Xinjiang, the "red cash coins" were considered equal in value to the standard cash coins that circulated there. The areas where the Dzungar pūls had most circulated, such as Yarkant, Hotan, and Kashgar, were the sites of mints operated by the Qing government. As the official mint of the Dzungar Khanate was in the city of Yarkent, the Qing used this mint to cast the new "red cash coins" and new mints were established in Aksu and Ili. As the Jiaqing Emperor ordered that 10% of all cash coins cast in Xinjiang should bear the inscription "Qianlong Tongbao" the majority of "red cash coins" with this inscription were actually produced after the Qianlong era as their production lasted until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, making many of them hard to attribute.
During the Qianlong era, mints in Xinjiang were established in Yili (伊犁), Yerkant (يارﻛﻨﺪ), Aksu (اﻗﺴﻮ), and Uši (اﺷﻲ), and probably also in Khotan (خوتن), Kashgar (قاش), and Qarashahr.
The first mint to be opened in Xinjiang under Qing rule was the Yarkant mint. At first, 500,000 cash coins were cast from melted down pūl coins. The Yarkant mint ceased production in the year 1767, but re-opened in 1768. In the year 1769, the Yarkant mint was transferred to the Uqturpan mint. While the city changed its name from Yerkim to Yarkant in September 1761, there is no evidence that the mint mark was also changed at the same time. In the beginning, the Manchu form of the Yarkant was Yerdjim and were issued from 1759 to 1761; afterwards, the Manchu form was Yerdjiang.
In the year 1766 the Aksu mint was ordered by the government to transfer its manufacturing to the city of Uqturpan. Cash coins were to be produced under the regulations of the Yarkant mint with a standard weight of 2 qián (7.5 grams). It was further ordered to include a mint mark in both Manchu and Arabic scripts. In the year 1771, the government memorialised that cash coins produced in Xinjiang be reduced in weight. While originally having a weight of 2 qián, because the cities of Aksu, Uqturpan, Yarkant, and Kashgar had population numbers that were increasing, it meant that cash coins were unable to circulate freely as they had become more scarce relative to an increasing population. Uqturpan was ordered to reduce the weight of their cash coins by 5 fēn, which meant that they would weigh 1.5 qián (or 5.6 grams). The surplus of copper was then used to make more cash coins to help reduce the scarcity of money. In the year 1774, the weight of cash coins produced by the Uqturpan weight was reduced again to 1.2 qián (4.5 grams). In the year 1798, the Uqrurpan mint was transferred back to the Aksu mint.
Jiaqing era
In the year 1801, the government of the Qing dynasty set the quota on the copper to be collected in the southern circuit of Xinjiang to 21,100 jin. Of this copper, a total of 2,600 strings of pūl cash coins were to be manufactured. Each of these cash coins were set to have a weight of 1.2 qián.Huang, Licheng: "Akesu ju Jiaqing tongbao 'da ji Jia' he 'xiao ji Jia' zhuqi he banshi de tantao". ("Examination of Issue Periods and Varieties of 'da ji Jia' and 'xiao ji Jia' of Jiaqing Tongbao"). In: Xinjiang qianbi (Xinjiang Numismatics), 2000/1. pp. 9–11. (in Mandarin Chinese using Simplified Chinese characters)
Daoguang era
In 1826, Jahangir Khoja, with soldiers from the Khanate of Kokand, occupied the southern circuit of Xinjiang, temporarily losing Kashgar, Yarkant, and Hotän to this rebellion. The Daoguang Emperor sent 36,000 Manchu soldiers to defeat this rebellion.Li, Xianzhang: "'Dangshi' lei hongqian ji banshi banbie". ("Types and Varieties of Value Ten Red Cash".) In: Xinjiang qianbi. (Xinjiang Numismatics), 1996/2. pp. 12–22. (in Mandarin Chinese using Simplified Chinese characters) As more soldiers had entered Xinjiang, the price of silver went down while that of copper went up. In 1826, 1 tael of silver was worth 250 or 260 "Red Cash" while in 1827, it had decreased to 100 or sometimes even as low as 80. Despite the soldiers returning to Manchuria, the original exchange rates did not restore, causing the mint of Aksu to close. As the Aksu mint closed down, less money was circulating on the market.
The 10 wén Aksu cash coins were introduced in 1828 because of a money shortage that caused the government to be unable to pay the soldiers stationed in the region. These cash coins only weighed 1 qián 5 fēn. In the year 1829, the government introduced the 5 wén denomination of "red cash coins".
In 1828, monetary reforms were implemented to keep the current weight of "Red Cash" but increase their denominations to 5, and 10 wén (while weighing the same) with 70% of Aksu's annual production being 5 wén coins, and 30% being 10 wén. But the production of "Red Cash" itself was reduced by two-and-a-half-thousand strings. Later, the Daoguang Emperor ordered the weight of "Red Cash" to further decrease in order to maximise profits.
In reality, the 5 wén "red cash coins" circulated as 1 wén cash coins while the 10 wén "red cash coins" circulated as 2 wén cash coins. Furthermore, the Chinese character "十" was used by the people as a mark of authenticity rather than an indication of the cash coin's denomination.
Xianfeng era
Under the reign of the Xianfeng Emperor, "Red Cash" coins were excessively manufactured, negating the reforms implemented by the Daoguang Emperor and causing inflation in the region. As the Taiping Rebellion and the Second Opium War had prompted the Qing government to start issuing high denomination cash coins in other parts of the Qing dynasty, this soon spread to Xinjiang mainly due to the decreased subsidies for military expenditures in Xinjiang lowering the soldiers' salaries.
In the year 1853, the production of large denomination cash coins commenced at the Kucha Mint. These "red cash coins" were produced using local weight standards and not the ones set by the Ministry of Revenue because of their high copper content. In the year 1855, new denominations of 4 wén and 8 wén were introduced at the Yining mint. Furthermore, the Ürümqi mint started issuing cash coins with high denominations in response. New mints were established at Kucha and Kashgar while the Yarkant mint was re-opened. Coins also started being cast in bronze, brass, lead, and iron; this system received a chaotic response from Xinjiang's market. The Xianfeng era "red cash coins" produced at the Kashgar mint contain an obscure vertically written vorm of Arabic script.
In the year 1859, the 50 wén and 100 wén cash coins were officially discontinued. The Kucha mint then started collecting them for re-casting into 10 wén Daqian, a single string of either denomination could produce 3 strings of 10 wén Daqian.
From 1860, denominations higher than 10 wén were discontinued.
Tongzhi era
Only coins of 4 wén, 5 wén, and 10 wén were cast at Xinjiang's provincial mints under the Tongzhi Emperor. Cash coins that had a higher denomination than 10 wén were being collected from the population to be smelted into lower denominations, while the higher denominations that stayed on the market were accepted but only lower than their face value.Cai, Longgen: "Guanyu Kuche ju de Manwen juming he zhubi". ("Coinage with the Manchu Name of Kucha Mint".) In: Xinjiang qianbi (Xinjiang Numismatics), 1998/3. pp. 4–11. (in Mandarin Chinese using Simplified Chinese characters)
In the year 1866, the city of Ili was conquered by Mu'azzam Khan, which was followed by a Russian occupation of the region in 1871. During this era, the Russian ruble started circulating in the region but after the region was returned to the Qing, the Ili Mint would never produce any cash coins ever again. The production of Tongzhi Tongbao (同治通寶) cash coins would completely stop in the region following the loss of the cities which hosted the provincial mints during the Dungan uprisings.
Arabic cash coins of Rashidin Khan Khoja
During the Dungan revolt from 1862 to 1877, Sultan Rashidin Khan Khoja proclaimed a Jihad against the Qing dynasty in 1862, and captured large cities in the Tarim Basin. It stretched from Turfan in the east to Yarkand in the west. He issued Chinese-style cash coins minted at the Aksu and Kucha mints with exclusive Arabic inscriptions. These coins were only briefly minted as Rashidin Khan Khoja would be betrayed and murdered by Yakub beg in 1867.
Guangxu era